Activists encourage legal immigrants to apply for citizenship

LOS ANGELES -- Juana Elba Benitez is studying for the U.S. citizenship test she failed eight years ago -- an exam the 75-year-old native of El Salvador swore she would never take again.

Then she learned that Congress was debating a crackdown on illegal immigrants, and Benitez worried that legal residents like her might be next. So she is memorizing the first 13 states and who said "Give me liberty or give me death," all to be able to vote.

"Every day the laws are getting more rigid," says Benitez, poring over an American history study guide alongside about 40 students at a social services center for Hispanic immigrants. "I'm afraid that one day they might say, 'A green card isn't good enough. Whoever isn't a citizen is out of here.'"

Application numbers up

Citizenship applications among legal immigrants are up nearly 20 percent over last year.

Organizers are aggressively reaching out to the estimated 8 million-plus legal immigrants who are eligible to apply but haven't done so. Ultimately, they hope to turn these immigrants and those who have already become citizens into a powerful political bloc, launching nationwide campaigns this week to sign up 1 million new voters by the fall.

Green card holders can live and work in the United States but cannot vote. Those who have lived here five years are eligible to take the citizenship exam; the wait is shorter if the applicant is married to an American citizen.

Unions, religious groups and immigration activists are launching campaigns to seek out these legal residents and prepare them with free civics courses and, if necessary, English classes.

At a citizenship drive in Chicago two days before the national work boycott May 1, organizers hoped to assist 1,000 would-be applicants. So many showed up that organizers had to see 850 people on a later day, said Joshua Hoyt, executive director of a Chicago-based group that is among those leading the citizenship push.

Drives planned

The Service Employees International Union plans new citizenship and voter registration drives nationwide. "They are going to hear about citizenship at Mass, at union gatherings and at civic organization meetings," said Eliseo Medina, union executive vice president.

Between January and March, the Homeland Security Department received 185,400 naturalization applications -- a 19 percent increase over the same period last year.

Activists attribute the increase to legislation the House passed in December to criminalize illegal immigrants and anyone who helps them, and fence an additional 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

They argue that other crackdowns on immigrants, like Wednesday's launch of a 250-member posse in Phoenix to arrest human smugglers, could push even more green card holders to apply for citizenship.

"During more calm times, citizenship can be a personal decision, but when your community is attacked it becomes urgent," said Chung-Wha Hong, director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

Getting many legal immigrants to apply, and then pass the tests, will not be easy. Application fees of about $400 can be hefty for low-wage earners. Those with little formal education may struggle with the civics and English fluency tests.

"There are women who've been working two jobs for 20 years to raise their children. It's hard to tell them to learn English. At what time?" said Mayron Payes, who is launching a citizenship center in Los Angeles.

Some organizers say there are more than a dozen political swing states where between 50,000 and 600,000 legal residents are eligible to apply for citizenship and the right to vote -- numbers big enough to influence elections.

The vote is what ultimately pushed Rosalyn Cuenca, a housewife who came from Mexico 13 years ago, to apply for citizenship.

"There are politicians who keep attacking us," Cuenca, 34, said after a citizenship preparation class in Los Angeles. "I already know who I'm not going to vote for."