NCLR APPLAUDS INTRODUCTION OF IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION BILL WASHINGTON, D.C.—Earlier today, Reps. Tony Cardenas (D–Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) introduced the “New American Success Act,” a bill to more effectively assist immigrants as they navigate the naturalization process. The proposed legislation would create a National Office of New Americans within the White House, which, for the first time, would coordinate strategies and programs between agencies to ensure that new arrivals can ultimately become contributing members of American society. “With all eyes on immigration reform, the issue of immigrant integration has unfortunately been placed on the backburner for far too long by lawmakers on Capitol Hill,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR (National Council of La Raza). “There are millions of lawfully present immigrants already living in the United States who can help spur our economy, if we provide them with the tools and resources necessary to make it through the naturalization process. We applaud Reps. Cardenas and Ros-Lehtinen for working together to create this bipartisan legislation. This bill will lay the foundation for a more comprehensive and streamlined approach to immigrant integration and naturalization that will allow the U.S. to harness the diverse talents of this population.” In addition to establishing this new office, the bill also creates two grant programs to help immigrants flourish as new Americans. The Initial Entry, Adjustment, and Citizenship Assistance Grant Program will be awarded to local governments and community-based organizations to support programs that prepare immigrants for the final step of the naturalization process—citizenship. This grant will fund activities that focus on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and civics-based English language learning. A second competitive grant, the Integration Success Grant, will be awarded to states that design and implement comprehensive civic, linguistic and economic integration programs to help new arrivals become successful citizens. “It’s not enough to just usher immigrants through the naturalization process. We have to foster their integration by making sure they have the English proficiency and education to compete in the jobs marketplace,” added Murguía. “We strongly urge members of Congress to support this bill, which will help keep the U.S. at a competitive advantage in the global economy by maximizing the potential of the millions of new arrivals who have come to live and work in this country.” NCLR—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. For more information on NCLR, please visit nclr.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:15:53 +0000
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