Help promote Citizenship Day events Sept. 19 across state

Hundreds of thousands of Washington residents are eligible to become citizens, but aren’t. Yet.

You can help them by publicizing Citizenship Day events that will take place on Saturday, Sept. 19 in Renton, Moses Lake and Pasco.

Washington New Americans, a program of OneAmerica, promotes successful integration by connecting Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) to the information and services they need to successfully pursue citizenship and become active members of our community. Citizenship Days, held in partnership with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and community organizations across the state, offer assistance with citizenship applications in cities across Washington.

Please share this information among members of your union and community organization to help LPRs become citizens, and then active, members of our communities and workplaces. This is part of a joint Washington State Labor Council/community effort to get more of our Union Brothers and Sisters, their families, and our communities, registered to be citizens and engaged voting members.

Here is the information regarding Citizenship Day to send to your networks (event flier in Spanish or get info in other languages here):

CITIZENSHIP DAY in Renton, Moses Lake, and Pasco on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015

Citizenship Day is a FREE one-day legal clinic to help legal permanent residents apply for citizenship and it is hosted by the Washington State Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and OneAmerica.

Citizenship is a critical part of American Dream for many immigrant families, but the high cost of attorneys and fear of the process stop many eligible people from becoming citizens. We’ll have volunteer immigration lawyers, paralegals and interpreters on hand to help eligible permanent residents successfully fill out citizenship applications (N-400s). It’s a great way to earn community service hours without a long-term commitment, meet other students, and help your community.

Sign up now, and please forward this information to your networks!

WHEN: Saturday, September 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RENTON: Renton Technical College, Building C, 3000 NE 4^th St, Renton, WA 98056

MOSES LAKE: Big Bend Community College, ATEC Building 1800, 7611 Bolling St NE, Moses Lake, WA 98837

PASCO: Columbia Basic College, Center for Career & Technical Education (corner of W. Argent Rd & Saraceno Way), Pasco, WA 99301

Do you want to volunteer to help on Citizenship Day? General volunteers and bilingual interpreters (Spanish and English) are needed at the Pasco and Moses Lake sites on Sept. 19. Possible roles for volunteers:

INTERPRETER: Interpret verbatim between clients and paralegals or attorneys and other volunteer staff. Insure clients and paralegals/attorneys understand each other and the contents of all forms and documents needed for naturalization. Interpreters may NOT provide legal advice except as direct translation of advice given by attorney.  Interpreters of all languages are welcome, particularly, those with Spanish, Russian, Somali, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese skills, among other languages.

GENERAL SUPPORT:  As directed by Site Coordinators, help with set up/take down at facility, signage, client intake, routing of clients through the facility, copying and assembling documents, answering non-legal questions, passing out information documents, and helping with food and drinks for volunteers.

Last year, Washington New Americans had more than 375 volunteers supporting Citizenship Days and was able to serve 531 individuals at 13 sites across the state! Please contact WNA Program Associate Katelyn Chrisman at katelyn@weareoneamerica.org with any questions about volunteering.

Visit the WNA website www.wanewamericans.org for more information.