One weekend a month for the next three months, a coalition of local organizations, lawyers and elected officials will offer free assistance to permanent residents applying to be American citizens. But there are some requirements.
Florida Immigrant Coalition, a Miami-based immigrant advocacy group, and Broward County Vice Mayor Dale Holness are working with bar associations and other organizations to offer free services for prospective citizens at the Lauderhill Mall, 1267 SR 7 Lauderhill, FL 33313 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 18 and 19, June 15 and 16, and July 20 and 21.
“We’ve been giving this service to our community for about six years now,” said Robert Benavides, citizenship coordinator for FLIC. “We’ve served around 6,500 people who come into our events or our office to get legal screenings and be able to talk with immigration attorneys free of charge and help them apply for citizenship.”
In addition to legal help, FLIC is able to advise applicants when they qualify for fee waivers. Benavides said they get visitors from other counties and even other states at their events.
“We’ve had a longstanding partnership with current Vice Mayor Dale Holness and Lauderhill Mall for the last three years, where we serve mostly Caribbean and non-Spanish-speaking immigrants to apply for citizenship,” Benavides said.
“We want people to apply for citizenship. There are very big changes coming to the application process, there are very big changes coming to the fee waiver, which is a form that allows people if they’re below the poverty line to save money. There are very big changes coming down from the administration and further screenings and a lot of procedures that are really changing fast because the administration wants to make it hard for immigrants apply for citizenship and so we want people to apply before these changes take effect.”
These drives come as the Florida Senate and House passed a bill that would ban so-called sanctuary cities, which offer protections to undocumented residents. Florida does not have any sanctuary jurisdictions, according to the Department of Justice. The state’s Democratic lawmakers oppose the bill while Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, support it.
FLIC is holding rallies at the State Capitol in Tallahassee and at Florida Sen. Manny Diaz’s office in Miami protesting the bill, which they call “an unconstitutional bill that will separate immigrant families.”
Immigration lawyers and other professionals will help prepare citizenship applications at the events if they meet a few requirements:
- Resided in the U.S. as a permanent resident for five years, or three years if living with and married to the same U.S. citizen
- Be at least 18 years old
- Physically present in the U.S. for half of the five- or three-year period
Those who qualify and are interested in seeking assistance at these workshops also need to bring a few things:
- Home addresses for the last five or three years
- Recent tax returns, W2 forms or two months of paystubs
- Green Card and all passports
- ID and Social Security cards
- School and/or employment history for the last five or three years
- Children’s information including date of birth, age and addresses, if applicable
- Marital history and criminal history, if applicable
FLIC and Holness are working with the Caribbean Bar Association, Community Access Center, Jamaican American Bar Association, TJ Reddick Bar Association and U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings to provide these drives.
Call 954-637-3872 or email FloridaNewCitizen@gmail.com.