advertisement

SSN on Facebook SSN on Twitter SSN on YouTube RSS Feed

13 Comments
Columns

U.S. Spends $10 Mil to Give Foreigners Seeking Citizenship Free English, History, Civics Classes

August 1, 2017 - 6:00am

The U.S. government just announced it’s spending $10 million to help foreigners seeking American citizenship by offering them free English, history and civics courses as well as naturalization legal services. The Obama administration dedicated north of $62 million to similar initiatives and there was tremendous hope that President Donald Trump would put a stop to the madness, or at least slash funding.

Instead, the cash will keep flowing via a Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The goal, according to the Homeland Security agency that oversees lawful immigration to the U.S., is to promote the assimilation of lawful residents into the fabric of American society.

“Naturalization requirements, such as knowledge of English and of U.S. history and civics, encourage civic learning and build a strong foundation upon which immigrants can fully assimilate into society,” the Homeland Security grant announcement states. “Through preparing for naturalization, immigrants will gain the tools to become successful citizens and assimilate into our society and meet their responsibilities as United States citizens.”

American taxpayers will provide candidates with instruction in U.S. history and government for citizenship test preparation and activities that promote civic and linguistic assimilation. This includes English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction in reading, writing and speaking by specialized teachers. Civic assimilation activities will include local trips to sites and landmarks of historical or cultural significance, guest speakers such as local public servants and other activities that promote in-depth understanding of government functions, geography, traditions, symbols and holidays.

Naturalization application services will include the preparation and submission of forms required by the federal government and appearing at naturalization interviews and hearings with applicants. The money will be disbursed in chunks of $250,000 to nonprofits, local governments and schools throughout the country.

Similar programs, also funded with USCIS grants, were incredibly popular during the Obama years and Judicial Watch monitored them closely. It was part of a broader, government-wide initiative launched by the former president to “strengthen federal immigrant and refugee integration infrastructure.” The mission was to facilitate life in the U.S. for immigrants and refugees by enhancing pathways to naturalization, building welcoming communities and providing “mobile immigration services in underserved communities.”

To carry out the mission Obama created a special Task Force on New Americans chaired by his Domestic Policy Director, Cecilia Muñoz, the former vice president of the powerful open borders group National Council of La Raza (NCLR). Millions of taxpayer dollars flowed to the task force’s various enterprises, including multilingual media campaigns promoting immigrant rights. The goal was to “strengthen civic, economic and linguistic integration and to build strong and welcoming communities,” according to a report issued by the task force.

In its final months, the Obama administration doled out $29 million via USCIS grants to register new immigrant voters that likely supported Democrats in the presidential election. Officially it was described as “citizenship integration” aimed at enhancing pathways to naturalization by offering immigrants free citizenship instruction, English, U.S. history and civics courses. The money flowed through two separate USCIS grants, the first for $19 million and a second, just five months later, for $10 million. That grant came in a final push before the presidential election to prepare approximately 25,000 residents from more than 50 countries.

More than a dozen states -- including California, New York, Florida, Washington and Ohio -- with large resident immigrant populations were targeted as well as cities with huge immigrant populations such as Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Founded in 1992, Judicial Watch is an American conservative nonpartisan watchdog group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate alleged misconduct by government officials. The above piece is reproduced from the latest edition of Judicial Watch's blog, "Corruption Chronicles."

Comments

We go overseas foment huge wars - refugees flee and then we want to bear no responsibility for taking care of any of them. I guess they should all go to Europe. And in the scheme of things - $10 Million is peanuts. Maybe it sounds like a lot of money but it IS NOT. We should be ashamed of our humanitarian cruelty.

As the old musical refrain goes, "This is MY Country,..": STOP GIVING "ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS" BENEFITS AND ENTITLEMENTS THEY DON"T DESERVE ! "Let 'em eat cake", and be prepared to assimilate and communicate next time they come through, LEGALLY !

all for legal citizenship, just not sure tax payers should be paying for them to do it. I think perhaps the resident alien should be bearing some of the cost.

Better they should be ignorant of American history, civics and English and be like so many Americans so they'll fit right in.

What's clear from this article is that many "Americans" now know the "cost" of everything, to the last penny - and the value of nothing.

Well said. Education is costly, but invaluable.

"there was tremendous hope that President Donald Trump put a stop to the madness, or at least slash funding." If he reduced the funding from $62M to $10M, I would say he did just that. What a pity! Folks who are eligible for citizenship deserve this assistance. Under trump we will no longer be the great nation we've been ... and we're allowing it.

Googled who you are and understand why this article is against Immigration monies to permanent citizens. I will be deleting your web site.

"Google me too you "dimwit"; Who made you the arbiter? You're not fit to judge; your only "entitled" (oh, there's THAT word again) to make stupid comments. (Delete my website too !) (..and keep studying your english grammar) (I think it was John Wayne who said "Life is hard, but it's harder when you're stupid")

This article is from a conservative think tank. It is the farthest thing from unbiased.

Obviously "Jake", you have no idea who/what "Judicial Watch" is.... You were right though when you said "education is invaluable", (but the cost of YOURS is questionable...) {Pay attention in class "Jake"}

Spends $$ to Give Foreigners Seeking Citizenship. Very ugly title. These people who get help are legal permanent residents. By law they are eligible to get citizenship. These people contribute in all aspects of our country including paying taxes. So the government spends $$ to help them learn English and civic knowledge important for any one in this country. This $$ amount is well spent.

Go to school with "Jake", "Ahmad",...It will do you BOTH a world of good !

Comments are now closed.

columns
advertisement
advertisement
Live streaming of WBOB Talk Radio, a Sunshine State News Radio Partner.

advertisement