Across the country, 8.7 million green card holders are currently eligible to become U.S. citizens, yet many have not applied. These are people who have come to our great nation legally, and they’ve got a chance to become Americans. Across the country, both Red and Blue participants in our Citizens Commission on Immigration workshops have agreed that immigrants with a legal pathway to citizenship should have the opportunity to learn English and American civics. Welcome.US, a new BA partner, agrees with them.
In a sit-down with Welcome.US last month, CEO Maury Giles explained how BA works at the Workshop and Alliance level: “We provide a toolkit to get started, including recruitment, meeting cadences, and skill-building workshops, all in the spirit of cultivating courageous citizenship and collaborative action.” Synchronicity is real: Welcome.US has a toolkit too! This Citizenship Day (Sept. 17th), they’re launching a new Citizen Guide Program designed to help lawful permanent residents (green card-holders) as they prepare for their citizenship exam. And they’re looking for volunteers to help mentor those folks through the preparation process. Could we make their US citizen toolkit part of our courageous citizen toolkit?
Welcome.US’s free, flexible, fully online Citizen Guide Program program matches green card holders with trained volunteers for English conversation practice, citizenship test preparation, or citizenship interview practice. They provide the training and resources, so no prior experience is needed.
Want to learn more?
Sign up for an info session >> REGISTER NOW
Ready to start? Take the training and start volunteering >> START VOLUNTEERING
Curious about what it takes? See if you could pass the test >> TAKE THE EXAM
Is the premise that immigrants don’t already have opportunities to learn English and civics? The reality is that many won’t make the effort to learn Englis as in many places they can get along fine in their native language. And they can even become citizens without meeting the English language requirements via the 50 age/20 years and 55 age/15 years in the country exceptions.
Welcome.US is not really against illegal immigration and is for increasing immigration in general. And I suspect that aligns them with the Braver Angels’ immigration agenda.