Template: Creating Municipal "New Americans Initiatives"

The National Partnership for New Americans has been working this year to lay the groundwork for building a comprehensive, national strategy that could realistically assist the eight million legal immigrants who are eligible for citizenship in becoming naturalized U.S. Citizens.

We've already had some success both locally and nationally with passage of New Americans Initiative Resolutions in the City of Chicago and at the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting. Municipal initiatives, like the one passed in Chicago, would bring city and state governments together with immigrant support coalitions, such as our Partners, to promote naturalization efforts. The resolution supported by mayors emphasizes the responsibility of all levels of government to promote citizenship and to examine and reduce barriers to naturalization.

The Partnership has created a strategic template to help elected leaders and advocates create New Americans Initiatives in their cities. The strategy combines the Partnership's strength in mobilizing on-the-ground support from diverse immigrant communities with the strong relationships that each Partner has forged within City Halls across the country.

We hope you find this template helpful and welcome feedback. We are also available to provide strategic advice and lessons learned to any local efforts. Please contact Partnership Citizenship Coordinator Alaa Mukahhal for more information.

Download the Partnership's Municipal
“New Americans Initiative” Template

The Partnership will continue building and supporting local initiatives across the country and plans on bringing mayors from several major cities to the 2012 National Immigrant Integration Conference in Baltimore in September to announce progress.