Citizenship Day 

“Becoming a U.S. citizen is an important step for immigrants to become fully participating members of society, and it is a defining milestone for being integrated into civic life,” said Karen Narasaki, executive director of AAJC. “Immigrants have historically made significant contributions to the U.S. economically and culturally, and therefore it is imperative that we reform our current immigration system to preserve the vitality of this important segment of society.”

Citizenship Day evolved from the ‘I Am an American Day’ initiated by Congress in 1940 and has since come to represent pride in U.S. citizenship. Today thousands of immigrants will become Americans in naturalization ceremonies held throughout the U.S. 

“For more than 200 years, America has remained strong because of its citizens and the common civic values we share, where generations of immigrants have taken oaths to become U.S. citizens with love for this country and commitment to those values,” said Stewart Kwoh, executive director of APALC.  “Every day we see immigrants achieve their dreams of citizenship through our work providing naturalization assistance to the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.”

Since the 1970s, AAPI communities have been the predominant source of new citizens. India, Vietnam, Philippines, and China are the leading countries of birth.

“AAPI immigrants come here to seek a better way of life and to pursue the American Dream,” said  Titi Liu, executive director of ALC. “In these tough economic times, we should not forget that immigrants are a major engine for our nation’s growth. They are small business owners, they pay taxes, they purchase homes and consumer products, and they create jobs.”

Tuyet Le, executive director of AAI, said, “Immigrants want to participate in building a bright future for the U.S. Their commitment to our country is not only evident in the investments they make to our economy, but also in their growing political participation. Immigrants from our community, particularly new citizens, turned out to vote in overwhelming numbers last year as an indication of their engagement in civic life.” 

Events are being held nationwide on Citizenship Day reminding Americans about the promise and responsibility of citizenship. The National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, along with its partners, is holding a three-day "Unity in Movement" event in Washington, D.C. on September 16-18. For more information visit their website: http://nakasec.org/blog/english/programs/citizenshipday. National and community-based organizations across the nation are also holding a number of citizenship workshops under the banner of “Ya Es Hora” to help immigrants looking to become New Americans file for citizenship.

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