MIRA Coalition Announces Citizenship Initiative

BOSTON/Faneuil Hall – Proclaiming that “now is the time for citizenship ” representatives of the Boston-based Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and its member organizations held a rally and press conference Thursday near the Samuel Adams statue outside Faneuil Hall to announce stepped up efforts to make U.S. citizenship a reality for many more immigrants living in Massachusetts. MIRA Coalition Executive Director Eva Millona said “never in our lifetime has it been more important as this time to become a U.S. citizen.” Coalition members anticipate a long and contentious debate in Washington over federal immigration policy to begin soon after Congress and the Obama administration come to grips with health care financing reform. Advocates are encouraging as many of their constituents as possible to begin the citizenship process now as a way of increasing immigrant’s leverage while lawmakers debate what activists hope will be a comprehensive package of reforms. During the press conference on Thursday Millona announced that the first in what is expected to be a series of free workshops aimed at helping people apply for citizen status would take place this weekend at the Downtown Crossing offices of Service Employees International Union Local 615. The process of becoming a U.S. citizen say MIRA Coalition partners has gotten more complicated and difficult in recent years. Photos Creative Commons BY-NC-SA Jesse Kirdahy-Scalia 2009 Millona explained that increases in application fees have led to decreases in applications and blocked some immigrants from getting through the citizenship process. “In 2007 as many of you remember the US Immigration Service raised the immigration fees and changed the naturalization test. Raising fees presents a huge obstacle for many low income immigrants and refugees who would like to pursue their dream and become U.S. citizens.” Application fees have increased from $475 two years ago to $675 today. “And for those who wanted to pursue their dreams and become green card holders ” added Millona “the fees went up 300 percent. And that represents a real obstacle to proceed with their citizenship.” Lowering application fees is just one aspect of reform supported by immigrant advocates said MIRA Coalition Communications Director Frank Soults. “First and foremost there are 12 million people here who don’t have documentation working in a shadow economy. And what we need to do is provide them a path to citizenship. "I recently calculated that deporting those 12 million would be tantamount to deporting 90 percent of every resident in New England. So it’s just completely unrealistic to think that this can be done.” OMB Audio: Conversation with MIRA Coalition Communications Director Frank Soults. Federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on undocumented immigrants in Boston Somerville New Bedford and other cities and towns around the state in recent years have made all immigrants and refugees reluctant to expose themselves to government officials say activists. Despite the challenges some organizations report success in their attempts to encourage citizenship and civic participation. Renan Leahy Communications Coordinator for the Cambridge based Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers said his organization helped nearly 300 people become U.S. citizens last year. “We think it is very very important for us to be part of this initiative to help more people to become citizens of this country. Because…it’s not only a way to empower these new citizens it’s also a way to empower their own communities as well as the whole Commonwealth… We’re going to bring [people with] different backgrounds to this country. We’re going to help people to bring new ideas to discussions and it’s going to have a large impact on this society; not only Massachusetts but the nation as well.” September 17 is celebrated as U.S. Constitution Day – also known as Citizenship Day – a federal holiday established by Congress in 2004. The U.S. Constitution was signed by John Hancock and 38 other early American leaders on September 17 1787. According to the website of the U.S. Constitution Center based in Philadelphia PA the holiday is meant to pay tribute to the legacy of those founders and “develop habits of citizenship in a new generation of Americans.” OMB Audio: Conversation with Human Rights Campaign National Board Member David Wilson. OMB Audio: Citizenship Initiative 9/17/09 Various speakers including David Wilson Human Rights Campaign Magalis Trancoso Lama Director Dominican Development Center Courtney Snegroff SEIU 615 and new American Cleyda Reyes. Organizations participating in the MIRA Coalition Citizenship Initiative launched on September 17th include: SEIU 615 Centro Presente Irish Immigration Center Human Rights Campaign Centro Latino Brazilian Women’s Group Massachusetts Public Policy Institute Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers American Immigration Lawyers Association Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati