Successful Naturalization Workshop in OC

Amy Taxin of the Orange County Register writes about the success of this weekend’s naturalization workshop:

The workshop was one of hundreds in a nationwide campaign by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials to help register 1 million new U.S. citizens this year. Word about the campaign – dubbed ” Ya Es Hora” – has spread quickly on Spanish-language media giant Univision, one of NALEO’s partners in the effort to inspire more Latinos to become citizens and register to vote.

The campaign comes on the heels of massive marches over immigrant rights and passionate debate in Congress about the future of the country’s immigration system. It also comes as the government readies a 69 percent increase in citizenship application fees that will take effect this month, pushing the cost to $675.

“We knew citizenship was going to be front and center, so we thought, ‘We need to do something different than just the regular workshop,'” said Javier Angulo, NALEO’s director of civic education.

Every week, NALEO partners with community organizations to hold workshops where immigrants fill out paperwork, make copies and get photos taken with help from volunteers. Univision airs live footage from the events and announces upcoming workshops in Southern California. Click here for the rest of the story.

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