In Greater Houston, more than 360,000 people who have lived here for years—often decades—working, raising families, and contributing to their communities, still remain short of full civic belonging. There is hope out there to change that.
At a May 8 briefing hosted by Houston Community Media, community leaders launched a renewed effort to help lawful permanent residents navigate the often complex, costly, and emotionally daunting journey toward U.S. citizenship.
“There were roughly about 360,000 adults that were eligible to naturalize in the Greater Houston area,” said KaNeesha Allen, Community Collaboration Lead at Dalberg Design. “Eighty percent of those eligible have lived in the U.S. for about 10 years… 40 percent for about 20 years.”
Available resources include free legal aid, citizenship support circles and community navigators to help people achieve, what some say, is their ultimate dream…