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WHEREAS, the United States is a nation
of immigrants, a nation in which immigrants have made and continue to make
contributions to our economy and culture; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors
has historically recognized the economic contributions that immigrants have
made by creating new jobs, developing innovative products and ideas, and
connecting our economy to global markets; and WHEREAS, the economic contributions of
immigrants include over 40% of the 2010 Fortune 500 companies were founded by
immigrants or their children, and immigrants are almost twice as likely to
start new businesses than the native born; and
WHEREAS, immigrant-founded companies created
around 450,000 jobs in under a decade, and generated an estimated $52 billion
in sales in a single year (2005); and WHEREAS, from 1990 to 2006, the cities with
the biggest increase in immigrant workers were the cities with the fastest
economic growth; and WHEREAS, a comprehensive study
estimated that legal and illegal immigrants paid $162 billion in federal, state,
and local taxes in one year alone (1997); and WHEREAS, undocumented immigrants paid $11.2
billion in taxes in 2010 and nearly half of all undocumented immigrants pay
income taxes; and WHEREAS,
the U.S. Conference of Mayors honors the contributions that immigrants
have historically made to the defense of our nation, from Revolutionary War
hero General Casimir Pulaski to the 68,000 immigrants serving in our armed
forces today; and WHEREAS, the process of becoming a naturalized
U.S. Citizen is the ultimate expression of commitment to our United States of
America; and WHEREAS, the decision by immigrants to become a
U.S. citizen involves a lengthy legal process with a 10 page application
(N-400), paying a significant application fee, undergoing a full background
check, learning English, studying for and passing a written and verbal exam in
English on the history and government system of our democracy; and WHEREAS, immigrants who apply for and fulfill
the requirements for U.S. citizenship become naturalized at an Oath Ceremony
administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, at
which the immigrant raises their right hand and swears: "I
hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all
allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty,
of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will
support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America
against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States
when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed
forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work
of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and
that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of
evasion; so help me Go; ."and WHEREAS, those immigrants who have taken the
step to become U.S. citizens are more likely to have learned English and earn
more than non-citizens; and WHEREAS, of the 12,630,000 legal permanent
residents (“Green Card” holders) residing in the United States, there are
currently 8,070,000 legal permanent residents who have fulfilled the residency
requirements and who are currently eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship; and WHEREAS, in 2010 only 619,000 of those legal
permanent residents eligible (less than eight percent) applied for U.S.
citizenship; and WHEREAS, many legal permanent residents lack
the information necessary to undergo the full naturalization process, and face
additional barriers of lack of education and English; and WHEREAS, the cost of applying for citizenship
has risen from $225 in the year 2000 to $680 in 2012 (an increase of 202
percent), and has become a significant barrier to citizenship for many working
class immigrants who desire to be and who would be fine U.S. citizens, while
the cost of simply renewing one’s “Green Card” status for 10 years is only
$450; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors
recognizes that one of the reasons for these steep fee increases is the
determination by the U.S. Congress that the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services must support their work through the fees they charge; and WHEREAS, the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services has in recent years striven to address the barriers to
U.S. citizenship by limiting further application fee increases, creating a
uniform fee waiver system for disadvantaged immigrants who desire to become
U.S. citizens, and creating a U.S. Citizenship Toolkit in order to assist
immigrants and those who would assist them in becoming U.S. Citizens; and WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of both our
nation and of the immigrants themselves for those residing upon our shores,
benefitting from our freedoms, and contributing with their labor, to take the
step to assume their full rights and their full responsibilities to our nation
as citizens; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors
recognizes that it is the responsibility of the U.S. government to set and
administer the requirements of U.S. citizenship; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors affirms
that in our nation we have a shared responsibility to promote full
participation in our democracy, and affirms the ground-breaking efforts of states
such as the “Illinois’s New Americans Initiative”, the “New York State
Citizenship Initiative”, and the “Washington New Americans” campaign to fund
programs to assist legal permanent residents to apply for their U.S.
citizenship, and the municipal citizenship efforts by New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Houston Mayor Annise D.
Parker; and WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors affirms
the efforts of such organizations as the National Partnership for New
Americans, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the National Association of
Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the National
Immigration Forum, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and the American
Immigration Lawyers Association to promote the value of U.S. Citizenship and
the full participation in our democracy, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that
the U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services to fully examine the barriers to U.S. citizenship,
including the current fee structure and the possibility of reducing the cost of
U.S. citizenship, and to implement policies that will make U.S. citizenship available
to those legal permanent residents who desire to be and who meet the
requirements of becoming U.S. citizens; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of
Mayors calls for the Federal Government to launch a “New Americans Initiative”
using support from multiple agencies, such as the USCIS and the Department of
Education, to actively promote the value of U.S. Citizenship to our democracy;
and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of
Mayors calls for federal resources to promote U.S. citizenship, including the
full funding of immigrant integration grants offered by the USCIS, funding
qualified non-profits and community colleges to assist legal permanent
residents with their citizenship applications; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of
Mayors urges Congress to change its current requirement that all USCIS services
(including U.S. citizenship) be funded fully from fees, and provide federal
resources to support the costs of naturalization; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of
Mayors urges Mayors across this nation to initiate municipal level “New
Americans Initiatives”, with public service information campaigns to promote
U.S. Citizenship; work with local Community Colleges, English language programs,
libraries, local elected officials, and non-profits to host citizenship
workshops; and generally promote the value of full participation in our
democracy, assuming full rights and responsibilities, to the 8,000,070 legal
permanent residents who are eligible for citizenship. |
RESOLUTION ADOPTED JUNE 2012