U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services awarded three Houston area nonprofits nearly $1 million as part of a $20 million program to expand naturalization preparation services across 30 states.
Houston-based recipients include:
BakerRipley, $296,420 – citizenship forums and classes
Boat People SOS, $270,000 – naturalization test classes in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, $300,000 – citizenship workshops
The nonprofits were selected for their work to “prepare immigrants for naturalization and promote civic integration through increased knowledge of English, U.S. history and civics,” according to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services news release. Houston’s field office had almost 29,000 pending naturalization applications according to the June 2022 data, the second largest case load in the nation only to Dallas’ office.
Grant funds may be used by the nonprofits through September 2024.
