Community advocates and officials in New York are building support for a naturalization campaign to be run statewide. They say that, in spite of a recent increase in applications for US citizenship, hundreds of thousands of immigrants in New York remain eligible for the privilege.
NaturalizeNY is the name of the campaign which plans to provide vouchers covering the application fees for qualifying applicants. Their intention is to maximize the amount of applications for citizenship and, in turn, boost the economy of the state. Along with the non-partisan national network the New Americans Campaign, this is one of many efforts across the US to help eligible immigrants apply for US citizenship.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services says that, so far this year, it has received over 725,000 US citizenship applications from across the country. This is an increase of 25 percent over the same period in 2015. The rise reflects the upward trend that is often seen in the midst of Presidential election years. However, organizers believe that many New Yorkers remain who are eligible to become citizens but have not yet moved to do so.
The NALEO Educational Fund’s northeast regional director, Roberto Frugone, says that a 2015 report from The Urban Institute indicates that there are more than 642,000 people in New York City who are eligible to be naturalized and around 915,000 in the state of New York.