~On Tuesday, September 19, 2023 HIGHVIDA MEDIA witnessed a proclamation for Citizenship Day in Houston's City Hall, making Houston ‘Citizenship Capital of the USA.’ National Citizenship Day brings out Houston Ethnic Media & community partners! As we enter the room, I was proud to such diversity in ethnicity gathered here for this media press conference. As one fellow member from the media, Lorenza Butler, a veteran publisher and broadcast owner stated, “I have never seen this much ethnic media in one room! ”
HOUSTON City Hall – Nearly three dozen journalists and media professionals from multiethnic, multi-language outlets gathered Tuesday at Houston City Hall for a Houston Ethnic Media news briefing on the launch of “Naturalize Now, Houston!”, a campaign by the National Partnership for New Americans to promote naturalization by eligible immigrants.
THE MOVE
~The City of Houston, Harris County, Houston Endowment, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC) and other nonprofit organizations are also a part of this unprecedented public-private partnership. According to NPNA, there are 300,000 lawful permanent residents in the region who are eligible to apply for citizenship.
Houston Endowment is funding this initiative with a $2.13 million grant to NPNA to strengthen and expand naturalization programming, along with $1.65 million for “Give Citizenship A Boost,” a program to fund application fees for eligible immigrants. Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative is leading that project.
~Through Naturalize Now, Houston! NPNA will train teams of Citizenship Community Navigators, together with local partners Mi Familia Vota, Woori Juntos, OCA-Greater Houston, and SAAVETX Education, to reach the eligible-to-naturalize people across greater Houston.
The Citizenship Community Navigators are trusted leaders within their communities, many of whom have personal experience with the naturalization process. Their job is to address language barriers, help community members navigate the naturalization process, and connect them to low-cost legal services as well as financial assistance for application fees.
~Testimonies were given from community members sharing their
experiences in the process for citizenship.
~Zenobia Lai, Executive Director of Houston Immigration Legal Services
“We understand that the citizenship application fee of $725 is a significant financial burden for families with limited means. Through the ‘Give Citizenship A Boost’ project, we will help individuals overcome this barrier by covering the application fees.”
“Looking at the federal minimum wage. In 1993, it was $4.25. It was still pretty terrible. Right now, it’s $7.25. So back then, if you wanted to save money to pay for the fees, you’d save a dollar. It’d take a month and a half - it's still a long time - but it's attainable by 40 days, you’d get to save $40 to pay for the fees. Right now, if you save a dollar a day, you'll have to save for two years in order to save up for the for the application fees. And it's a hundred times of our minimum wage. So, think about that.”
~HIGHVIDA MEDIA~ After those key details and vital numbers were displayed, it became clear to me that this information and awareness is important to those who seek citizenship, and those that need to inform the uninformed. The next member who shared, really caught my attention ; I found my self in the same situations as this young teen. I realized that a lot of the same youth in my area went through same circumstances as I had as a youth in southwest Houston!
Next on the community member panel :
~Angel Ponce, Director of the Office Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities:
“I’m a native of Chihuahua, Mexico. I came to the United States at the age of five years old. My mom came over, took a donut over through the river. We took a plane and the first thing that I said whenever I was on the plane was like, ’Mom, mom, I want to go back on the donut and let's go back on a donut’ and my mom was like ‘shhhhh.’”
“We came into a neighborhood here in Houston called Gulfton and I was raised in Gulfton for a large part of my life. I got myself involved in some activities and I ended up in a wheelchair at the age of 19 years old. I was a product of the lives that some of these folks that are in in our communities are going through right now.”
“I quickly became involved in city and city government. I volunteered as an intern at the Mayor's office for Gang Prevention and Intervention. I have grown up with a lot of the folks that are in this room right now. I started as an intern, got myself eventually a paying job as an assistant, and then I got picked up by immigration and I was facing deportation. Because of the support of community leaders and people that believed in me, I was able to get residency here in the United States.”
“I got that citizenship, and now as the director of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. Mayor Turner saw something in me that he may not have seen in other folks, but because I have the position that I have today and because I’ve been in in situations that a lot of the folks that we work with every day are going through right now, I am able to relate to that community.”
“Most importantly, when we invest in those communities and bring the resources to those communities so that they can become productive members of society and Houstonians with residencies or with citizenships, they are able to achieve bigger, brighter things that otherwise we would not have seen if we don't invest in those communities. I am a product of that investment!”
PROCLAMATION
~After the roundtable, HEM attended the Houston City Council public session, witnessing the proclamation presentation declaring September 19 as Citizenship Day in Houston. (National observance on was on September 17. Harris County celebrated the national observance with a resolution on August 29.)
Mayor Sylvester Turner:
“Becoming a U.S. citizen is an important step towards full participation in our society. Lawful permanent residents contribute significantly to our city's cultural diversity and economic growth. We are proud to collaborate with the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), Houston Endowment, and Harris County to support and encourage more individuals to pursue U.S. citizenship. By doing so, we enhance Houston's unity and prosperity.”
“That’s just the way we do it in the city of Houston!” (statement followed by crowd applause)
CONCLUSION
~That is how we do it, indeed! I am honored and blessed to be involved in releasing this information & awareness to my city, Houston, Tx! Hopefully, this can help those seeking asylum, or even those who never knew they were eligible for citizenship. Either way the city of Houston seems to be next up in leading the U.S. in undocumented people for citizenship. I'd say that's a great deal to the multi-cultural melting pot that Is Houston! Thank you and may the MOST HIGH guid and protect! I wanna thank;
Nakia Cooper: ncooperHEM@ethnicmediaservices.org
Jon Guevara : Latintouchrecords@ymail.com
*This media story covered info. & pics by Houston Ethnic Media & Latin Touch Records & Latin Touch Media
Resource links: https://houston.naturalizenow.org
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