WASHINGTON, D.C. — This Citizenship Month, in the face of sweeping efforts from the White House to undermine access to citizenship and legal immigration, the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) commemorates the incredible contributions of new Americans to our country. As a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 76 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations, we will continue to advocate for access to citizenship for the 9 million individuals who are eligible to naturalize. 

Looming fee hikes, cancelled interviews and oath ceremonies, subjective “good moral” standards, and a harder Civics test are among the strategies this administration has employed to curb citizenship. The agenda behind this is clear: preventing people from being able to fully participate in our democracy. Yet despite soaring denial rates, hundreds have still taken the Oath of Allegiance in Seattle, Chicago, Mount Vernon, and across the nation.

Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “This Citizenship Day, we loudly celebrate our naturalized community members. Undergoing an increasingly harder and lengthier naturalization process, eligible residents have needlessly faced barrier after barrier to access what should be an accessible and fair process. We can not, and will not, stand by as naturalization pathways continue to be stifled by the Trump administration. We are proud of our naturalized neighbors, and we call for greater access to citizenship. We must ensure that those who have taken the important step to pledge allegiance to our nation and participate in our civil society are welcomed into our democracy.”

Said Carlos Aleman, Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (HICA) CEO, “I chose this country. I stood in a room, raised my hand, and made a promise, the same promise nine million eligible neighbors across this country are working to make right now, in Birmingham, in courtrooms, in years of paperwork most Americans will never have to touch. Naturalization is not paperwork to them, any more than it was to me. It is the last mile of a promise this country made a long time ago, that if you learn our history, study our civics, and commit to this democracy, this democracy will commit to you. This administration has made that mile longer, slower, and colder than it has ever been in my lifetime. It has not made the promise smaller. Every person who takes the Oath of Allegiance this Citizenship Month, in Alabama and everywhere else, is doing what I did. They are choosing this country, on purpose, and holding up their end of a bargain the rest of us should be proud to keep.” 

Said Murad Awawdeh, New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO, “For generations, the U.S. has welcomed and woven immigrants into the fabric of our nation with tremendous positive social, cultural, and economic impact for all. Today, we risk losing what makes us uniquely American because of the toxic rhetoric and actions emanating from the White House. We call on Congress to leave the cruel enforcement policies in the past and lead our nation with solutions-focused measures that promote citizenship, democratic values, and unite our diverse communities. On Citizenship Day, it is our patriotic duty to defend access to naturalization and legalization, which is the key to New Americans’ sense of belonging and success.”

Said Angelica Salas, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) executive director, “On Citizenship Day, we affirm that citizenship is not a political weapon—it is a promise of belonging, equality, and shared responsibility. Naturalized citizens have earned their place in our democracy, and every person who seeks to become a citizen deserves a fair, accessible path to do so. We must protect naturalization and expand pathways to citizenship, not undermine them based on who someone is, where they come from, or how they vote. Citizenship must mean the same thing for all of us: a commitment to the democratic values, rights, and responsibilities that bind us together. Its meaning cannot be corroded by political ideology or partisan power. Our democracy is stronger when citizenship is protected as a fundamental value—not manipulated as a political tool.”

Said Lisa Sherman Luna, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) executive director, “One of the most special and important aspects of American democracy is that this country was founded on the ideal that each and every one of us deserves freedom, belonging, and the pursuit of our dreams regardless of our religious beliefs, color of our skin, or where we were born. This is why, in America, aspiring citizens, who choose the years-long and expensive pathway to naturalized citizenship, are celebrated and should be invited to join in the benefits of full citizenship and meaningfully engage in our democracy. 

“Yet, in the past nineteen months we have seen countless attempts to make this process more exclusionary and difficult than ever, in an attempt to pick and choose who gets to belong based on a shallow and harmful white supremacist view of this nation. Here at TIRRC, we reject this administration’s and its billionaire/corporate beneficiaries’ attempts to destroy and pervert these ideals in order to gain and hold on to more political power. This September, in celebration of Citizenship Month, we celebrate each and every one who chooses the courageous path to not only make this country  their home, but also to make it the home where they pledge their allegiance and commit to making us a stronger and more united nation together.”

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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 76 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 40 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at npna-staging.mystagingwebsite.com.