325 to become citizens
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A total of 325 naturalization candidates will celebrate America’s birthday by becoming U.S. citizens at Mesa’s Celebration of Freedom festival.
For the fourth consecutive year, naturalization candidates will celebrate America’s birthday by becoming U.S. citizens at Mesa’s Celebration of Freedom festival.
A total of 325 people from 58 different countries — including Bolivia, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Rwanda and Taiwan — are expected to be naturalized at this year’s Fourth of July event.
In 2017, about 150 people from more than 15 different countries were naturalized at the Mesa festival. Other venues around the Valley, such as South Mountain Community College, also welcomed new U.S. citizens on the Fourth of July last year.
This year’s Celebration of Freedom event will also host live music, a pieeating contest, a Revolutionary War reenactment, water slides, food vendors and a beer garden. A fireworks show will conclude the night after musical performances from Whiskey Rose and Cold Shott and The Hurricane Horns.
Visitors can bring non-perishable food items and water bottles to the festival for the “Fill the Fire Truck” donation drive.
All donations will go to the United Food Bank, and visitors will receive entry into a raffle for different prizes after they make a contribution.
In Phoenix, 2,415 non-military naturalization applications were received during the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, 2,328 applications were approved, 281 were denied, and 12,620 were marked as pending, according to the most recent data available from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
In Tucson during the same time frame, 602 non-military applications were received, 739 were approved, 83 were denied, and 1,768 were marked as pending.
According to Pew Research Center, the number of naturalized immigrants
rose from 14.4 million in 2005 to 19.8 million in 2015, a 37 percent increase. In 2015, 67 percent of permanent residents eligible to become U.S. citizens had done so, the highest number in 20 years.
Still, the path to U.S. citizenship is more difficult for some immigrants than it is for others, previously reported.
The path to U.S. citizenship
Generally, to apply for naturalization, applicants must be at least 18 years old, be a lawful permanent resident for at least five years with a green card, be able to speak, write and read English, and meet many other eligibility requirements.
One of the greatest differences between a permanent resident and a U.S. citizen is that citizenship grants the ability to vote in state, local and national elections.
The cost of the naturalization process totals $725, which includes $640 worth of application fees and an $85 background check, also known as a biometric fee. Fingerprints, signatures and photographs are collected at the biometrics appointment.
Petra Falcon, founder of Promise Arizona, an organization that offers assistance to people undergoing the naturalization process, said the $725 price tag is steep for anyone, but especially those on a fixed income.
Promise Arizona helps low-income candidates complete and submit fee waivers because of this.
Once the applications and background checks are completed and paid for, applicants must schedule an interview with a USCIS officer and take an English and civics test. If an applicant fails either of the exams, they are scheduled to retake it 60 to 90 days from their first interview date. If a test is failed twice, the application is denied.
It’s time-consuming work, and Falcon said Promise Arizona currently gets about 30 phone calls a week from people inquiring about help with the naturalization process.
A story of naturalization
Promise Arizona is currently assisting Rosaura Gonsalez and her daughter, Betty Cattuse, through the naturalization process. Cattuse became a permanent resident in 1999, five years before her mother.
Before receiving permanent residency, both women entered into the U.S. from Nicaragua under political asylum. Cattuse was 17 years old when the women became asylum seekers. Gonsalez said the current scene with asylum seekers at U.S. borders is a “very, very bad situation.”
For the past month, Promise Arizona has been helping the women gather their documents and other information to submit the naturalization application.
They expect the entire process to take 10 to 12 months after they file the initial application, a form known as the N-400.
Gonsalez and her daughter said they decided to naturalize as a security measure, nervous that immigration policy would change suddenly or unexpectedly.
Gonsalez said she advises others eligible to naturalize to do so as soon as possible in order to better fight for their rights, improve their lives and gain the ability to vote in elections.