Pathway to citizenship can be difficult; 90 naturalized Friday

SPRINGDALE -- Mario Guerra has called himself an Arkansan for more than 25 years. Now he can call himself an American.

The Bentonville man was one of 90 people who took the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony Friday morning at the Jones Center in Springdale.

"I am proud to be an American," he said, clutching his certificate of naturalization. "I waited too long to do this."

Guerra fled El Salvador to escape civil war and said he gained legal status after implementation of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. Questions, doubts and fears kept him from pursing citizenship for more than two decades, he said.

"There are things we do not understand," he said.

There are about 13.3 million legal immigrants, or green card holders in the United States, and 8.8 million of them are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. Many let fears stop them from taking that step, said Felicia Escobar, White House special assistant for immigration policy. She was the keynote speaker at the annual Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas annual conference, also held Friday at the Jones Center.

About 40,000 people in Arkansas could apply for citizenship but haven't, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Escobar said it was nice to bookend her week with naturalization ceremonies. The White House hosted a ceremony Monday in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.

People applying for citizenship must go through an application process that includes a background check, in-depth interview and civics and English tests. They must also pay a $680 fee but can apply for a waiver.

She said it typically takes six to nine months to go through the citizenship process once an application is filled out. There is also generally a five-year residency requirement.

"Some people just don't want to undertake the process," Guerra said. "Others let fear stop them."

Raising awareness

Last month the White House launched a citizenship awareness campaign directed at helping green card holders become citizens. Stand Stronger was created by the White House Task Force on New Americans and was one of the initiatives President Barack Obama established with his immigration executive order in November.

The Stand Stronger website, committocitizenship.org, has practice tests, eligibility requirements and other resources for people considering citizenship.

Other parts of the president's immigration executive order are held up in courts after several states challenged a move to ease deportation threats and grant work permits for up to 5 million undocumented workers.

One program would benefit parents of U.S. citizens or permanent residents and another would expand eligibility for the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The administration created DACA in 2012 to provide deportation relief for people brought to the country as minors.

"We need immigration reform and we just have to keep fighting," Guerra said. "We need to get back to a place where we are talking about fixing a broken system."

Third District Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, agrees the system is broken and said illegal immigration continues to be a serious problem in Arkansas.

"Congress must work toward a solution that first and foremost secures our border and encourages lawful behavior," the Arkansas congressman wrote in an email.

Guerra said creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented residents as long as they meet certain requirements would help fix part of the problem.

Numbers increasing

Immigrant numbers are growing, with nearly 206,000 of the state's residents being Hispanic or Latino, said Raul Cisneros, director of the U.S. Census Bureau's Center for New Media and Promotion. He said the state's Hispanic population was only 20,o00 in 1990.

Only 3 percent of Northwest Arkansas resident were nonwhite in 1990, jumping to 26 percent in 2014.

The Census Bureau reports the nation's foreign born population hit 42.4 million, or 13.3 percent of the country's population, in July 2014, up 2.4 million people since 2010. The bureau refers to all immigrants, regardless of residency status, as foreign born.

The Pew Research Center estimates 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants lived in the U.S. last year.

The government agency estimates the number of immigrants will increase to 47.9 million, or 14.3 percent of the U.S. population, in 2020 and up to 78.2 million, or 18.8 percent of the population, in 2060.

The government isn't alone in trying to help people earn citizenship. The immigrant resource center in Springdale opened in August, and four more have since opened statewide. The centers are a joint project of the Arkansas United Community Coalition and Catholic Charities Immigration Services.

Mireya Reith, executive director of the Arkansas United Community Coalition, said citizenship is the biggest issue immigrants are asking about at centers statewide. She said many of these people have been eligible to apply for years and many say the upcoming presidential election is what sparked their decision to start the process now.

She said applicants don't like the way presidential candidates are talking about immigrants.

"They want to put themselves in the best position to be able to vote next November," she said.

Reith said nothing stands in the way of new citizens registering to vote immediately after taking the oath. Arkansas law requires registration at least 30 days before an election.

U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks, told the 90 new citizens a special table was set up outside the auditorium where they could register to vote. Brooks and U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin L. Setser, both of the District Court Western District of Arkansas, presided over the naturalization ceremony.

"One of the responsibilities, expectations as citizens is you will participate in government and vote," Brooks said.

NW News on 10/10/2015