MIAMI – The Florida Immigrant Coalition will host its first ever Citizenship Program in Miami. This is one of five Clinics that FLIC’s initiative Florida New Americans plans to host during 2012, aiming to assist legal permanent residents (LPRs) in Florida with their naturalization process.
Is this a necessary effort? The numbers speak for themselves. By 2010, there were about 240,000 Haitian LPRs in the United States, and more than half (58%) were eligible to naturalize. Considering that South Florida is home to nearly 47% of the Haitian-born population that lives in the entire country, and that each year over 11,000 Haitian immigrants become LPRs in our state, it is important to focus on this sector of the population in order to advance their rights in the country they now call home.
“Through our work advocating for a path to citizenship and the full integration of Florida’s immigrant communities, we identified the need to help those that had the opportunity but were not taking it,” says Krystina Francois, Coordinator for Florida New Americans. “Some people find lack of information, legal support or the high cost as the main barriers for naturalizing. We expect that the Clinics help them overcome such difficulties.”
This coming Saturday, FLIC expects to assist 100 applicants. There will be volunteers helping applicants to complete the forms, lawyers who will provide legal advisory and fee waiver applications for low-income LPRs.
