Attorneys, Elected Officials, Community Orgs and Nearly 200 Volunteers Help Immigrants Complete Citizenship Applications and Apply for Fee Waivers
CUNY Citizenship Now! Has Helped More Than 230,000 Immigrants Since 1997
More than 300 green card holders got free, on-the-spot help with their naturalization application at CUNY Citizenship Now!’s annual Spring Citizenship Drive, a massive all-day event that brings together hundreds of staff members and volunteers to raise awareness about the advantages of naturalization and help eligible immigrants take the final step in the long journey to becoming a U.S. citizen.
Co-hosted by Univision and held at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, the drive included nearly 70 members of the legal staff of CUNY Citizenship Now!, 190 volunteers, government officials and community organizations to assist a total of 304 green card holders. Eligible applicants left with a completed citizenship application packet that was ready for submission to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). CUNY Citizenship Now! is the nation’s largest university-based legal assistance program.
The cost of the newly updated naturalization form (USCIS N-400) went up in April to $710 for online filing and $760 for paper applications. Participants Saturday were screened for eligibility to apply for a fee waiver or a reduced application fee, which could save them hundreds of dollars. USCIS recently extended eligibility to many who could not previously qualify for a reduced or waived fee. Participants also learned how to prepare for the citizenship interview. Volunteers and staff who were on hand spoke Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Bengali, Urdu, Haitian Creole and Arabic.
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, CUNY Citizenship Now! Interim Executive Director Monique Francis and CUNY Vice Chancellor for Communications & Marketing Maite Junco join elected officials, partners and volunteers at the citizenship drive.
“CUNY has a long history of helping immigrants establish themselves in New York City, and the good work of Citizenship Now! reflects this tradition,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “We are grateful to the legal staff, volunteers, community partners and public officials who work together to help these individuals move closer to achieving the important milestone of citizenship, which unlocks a myriad of benefits and economic mobility opportunities.”
“For immigrants, achieving their goal of becoming U.S. citizens is the final step of their immigration journey. What lies ahead for them are countless opportunities, whether it is voting, buying a home, getting a federal job or traveling without restrictions,” said Monique Francis, interim executive director of CUNY Citizenship Now!. “As an immigrant leading CUNY Citizenship Now! I know what this means for the applicants attending our events, and ensuring they get this assistance free of cost is an added benefit.”
“New York State has been a beacon of hope for millions of immigrants who come here looking for a better life,” said acting New York Secretary of State Brendan C. Hughes. “CUNY’s Citizenship Now! has a longstanding commitment to helping New Americans navigate the complicated path to U.S. citizenship and this effort aligns with the Office for New Americans’ mission of welcoming individuals worldwide who wish to contribute and make our country their own and make our state’s economic outlook stronger and diverse.”
“Congratulations to CUNY Citizenship NOW! for a successful citizenship application event. This essential legal support helps immigrant New Yorkers continue to achieve their American Dream,” said Manuel Castro, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “My team and I are deeply grateful for our ongoing partnership with CUNY, which enables us to continue serving New York City’s immigrant communities.”
“CUNY Citizenship Now! has been a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers during its decades of operation. Countless members of the District 38 community have benefited from its critical supports,” said New York City Council Member and Committee on Immigration Chair Alexa Avilés. “I’m very grateful for their team’s efforts at this Spring’s Citizenship Drive, which was a great success with hundreds of people in attendance at the event. Thank you for all that you do.”
“I was so impressed and heartened when I visited CUNY’s Spring Citizenship Drive,” said New York City Council Member Gale A. Brewer. “In a short period of time, immigrants completed citizenship application packets for submission to the federal government, and most of the administrative fees were waived. The attorneys and volunteers were terrific and spoke many languages. It was great to see CUNY Chancellor Matos Rodríguez. Congratulations to all for serving more than 300 people!”
“Univision’s historical commitment to empowering Latino voices has been unwavering for over 50 years,” said Roberto Yañez, regional president and general manager of Univision NY. “We feel it is both a privilege and a responsibility to promote and support events where our community takes the first step in their civic engagement journey, first becoming a citizen and becoming eligible to register to vote.”
Saturday’s event was the largest and latest in a series of events, “Become a Citizen: Opportunities Await,” which began in the fall of 2023 and highlights the benefits of U.S. citizenship. During the event, participants were also given more information about applying to CUNY and civil service job openings. The series, which ends June 1, is expected to serve 1,200 permanent residents, surpassing the number of people helped by CUNY Citizenship Now! at events last year.
Since its founding in 1997, Citizenship Now!, a national model for immigration assistance, has helped more than 231,000 people with consultations and applications for benefits such as citizenship, green cards, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and employment authorization. CUNY Citizenship Now! is also a national leader in utilizing volunteers in large-scale events: The program has completed more naturalization applications than any other provider in New York City in the last 27 years.
Citizenship Now!’s events are open to all permanent U.S. residents and their services are free and available to the general public, not just the CUNY community. Those interested in learning more about the organization may call 646-664-9400 or 212-652-2071, or visit cuny.edu/citizenshipnow and complete a form to request a phone call.
The Spring Drive was sponsored by prominent nonprofits, law firms and government agencies including Access Justice Brooklyn; American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), New York Chapter; CUNY School of Law; Dominican Bar Association; Dominicanos USA; DC 37 Citizenship Committee; DC 37 Municipal Employees Legal Services; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP; Gibney Anthony & Flaherty, LLP; Hispanic Federation; John Jay College of Criminal Justice; NALEO Educational Fund; New Americans Campaign (NAC); New York City Council; NYC Department of Social Services; NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA); NYS Office for New Americans; One Percent for America; Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP; and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
CUNY Citizenship Now! has been a leading pro se immigration service provider in New York City for 27 years. Since its founding, it has handled over 231,000 applications and consultations for its participants. The Spring Citizenship Drive event is its flagship event.
The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving more than 225,000 undergraduate and graduate students and awarding 50,000 degrees each year. CUNY’s mix of quality and affordability propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all the Ivy League colleges combined. More than 80 percent of the University’s graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city’s economic, civic and cultural life and diversifying the city’s workforce in every sector. CUNY’s graduates and faculty have received many prestigious honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes and 26 MacArthur genius grants. The University’s historic mission continues to this day: provide a first-rate public education to all students, regardless of means or background. To learn more about CUNY, visit https://www.cuny.edu.
TelevisaUnivision is the world’s leading Spanish-language media company. Powered by the largest library of owned Spanish-language content and a prolific production capability, TelevisaUnivision is the top producer of original content in Spanish across news, sports and entertainment verticals. This original content powers all of TelevisaUnivision’s platforms, which include market-leading broadcast networks Univision, Las Estrellas, Canal 5 and UniMás, and a portfolio of 38 cable networks, which include TUDN, Galavisión, Distrito Comedia and TL Novelas. The company also operates the leading Mexican movie studio, Videocine, and owns and operates the largest Spanish-language audio platform in the U.S. across 35 terrestrial stations and the Uforia digital platform. TelevisaUnivision is also the owner of ViX, the largest Spanish-language streaming platform in the world. For more information, please visit televisaunivision.com. Contact: Bill Tipacti, director of community empowerment, Univision NY, at btipacti@univision.net
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