by Natasha B. | Oct 29, 2018 | CMS in the News, Immigration, Legal Services, News
Catholic Migration Services is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a two-year grant from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to help Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) apply for United States citizenship. This is a highly competitive grant, with only two grant recipients in New York City and only forty in the entire United States.
Receipt of this highly competitive award is a recognition of the outstanding work performed by our staff and dedicated volunteers, and by our partner, LaGuardia Community College. Through our partnership, LPRs obtain coordinated naturalization services, with Catholic Migration Services providing legal services and LaGuardia Community College providing civics and ESL classes. Together, we help more than 500 LPRs become citizens each year! These new citizens can now enjoy the rights and privileges that come with citizenship, including the right to vote.
Our citizenship work is especially important now, when immigrants are facing new and difficult barriers to achieving the dream of citizenship. Unfortunately, government grants do not fully cover the costs of this critical work. Please support our citizenship work so that we can continue to ensure that all LPRs have an opportunity to fulfill the dream of American citizenship.
by Natasha B. | Oct 12, 2018 | CMS in the News, Immigration, Legal Services, News
Catholic Migration Services joins the New York Immigration Coalition and over eighty partners in New York Counts 2020, a coalition to maximize participation in the census and therefore counter the expected impact of the citizenship question if added to the 2020 census. If included, a citizenship question will stoke unnecessary fear in immigrant communities and could result in a significant undercount, particularly already under-counted racial and ethnic minority groups. With immigrants constituting nearly 1 out of 4 New Yorkers, an undercount in the 2020 Census will have catastrophic consequences – costing all New Yorkers political power and billions of dollars in federal funding for key services.
Read the full press release from the New York Immigration Coalition: BREAKING: DOJ Reveals Bannon Behind Census Citizenship Question
by Natasha B. | Sep 5, 2018 | CMS in the News, Immigration, Legal Services, News
In a follow up story to our recent naturalization workshop at LaGuardia Community College, Catholic Migration Services, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and our pro bono partners helped immigrant New Yorkers get one step closer to citizenship.
Read the full story in the Queens Daily Eagle: LaGuardia Naturalization Clinic Served 65 Immigrant Clients
by Natasha B. | Aug 9, 2018 | CMS in the News, Immigration, Legal Services, News
A Long Island City naturalization workshop at LaGuardia Community College provided free access and services to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship. With the help of Catholic Migration Services; New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP; and volunteers from Goldman Sachs over 50 eligible green card holders were assisted through the legal process.
Read the full story in the Queens TimeLedger: LIC clinic helps immigrants apply for citizenship
by Natasha B. | Jul 31, 2018 | CMS in the News, Immigration, Legal Services, News
During a recent naturalization workshop at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, Catholic Migration Services and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest teamed up with partners for another successful workshop. This time pro bono attorneys, para legals, and volunteers assisted 65 lawful permanent residents who are now on their way to becoming citizens.
Read the full story in the Brooklyn Eagle: Naturalization clinics help immigrants apply for citizenship in Brooklyn and Queens
