Creative Public/Private Partnerships boost citizenship rates

The New Americans Campaign (NAC) is a  nonpartisan national network of legal-service providers, faith-based organizations, businesses, foundations and community leaders committed to improving access to citizenship for immigrants. NAC currently organizes a national, nonpartisan citizenship campaign throughout the country, focused on major cities with large numbers of citizenship-eligible residents, including Houston.

NAC recently released a case study highlighting the the benefits of partnership between Human Services Agencies and New Americans Campaign collaborations to promote access to naturalization assistance.

The case study finds that “Partnerships with human services agencies have yielded up to, and at times exceeded, tenfold increases in the number of LPRs [lawful permanent residents] receiving naturalization assistance in one sitting.” It also highlights the way in which the partnerships help fee-waiver eligible populations. The case study gives specific pointers that other local governments across the country can use to implement a similar approach.

Download the case study.

 

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Immigrant Children and Attorney Representation

Unaccompanied immigrant children arriving in the United States are entitled to a full hearing before an immigration judge to determine if they have a legal claim to remain in the U.S. Unfortunately, as has been reported again and again, many children around the country appear before immigration judges without attorney representation. Multiple reports, including a 2014 Pew Hispanic Research Center study and ongoing data collected by the Syracuse University, have shown that representation is the single most important factor influencing a case’s outcome. From FY 2012 through FY 2014, 73% of children who were represented by attorneys when appearing before an immigration judge were allowed to remain in the United States. By comparison, only 15% of children appearing without attorney representation were allowed to remain in the United States – 80% were ordered deported.

Last week, a senior Justice Department official and immigration judge, Jack H. Weil, stated in a deposition that that 3- and 4-year-olds can learn immigration law well enough to represent themselves in court. His statements have brought a renewed focus onto the issue of representation for unaccompanied immigrant children.

Collaborative Executive Committee member and Director of the University of Houston Law Center Immigration Clinic, Geoffrey Hoffman, recently published a response to Judge Weil’s statement. You can read his full response here.

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