NORTHAMPTON — When Victoria Maillo arrived in the U.S. in 1995, she had “no desire to be an American.” She knew three words in English, was in the U.S. for a teaching gig in the Spanish department at the University of Montana and considered Spain her “only country.”
“My English still isn’t very good,” said Maillo, who is the Spanish page editor for The Montague Reporter newspaper. “But now, I’m very happy to be an American.”
Maillo became a U.S. citizen last month, after deciding that citizenship was preferable to renewing her green card. On Saturday, she participated in a panel discussion at the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum within the Forbes Library, to encourage eligible immigrants to apply for citizenship.
“Last year — after the election — I had to choose between getting a green card or becoming an American. It was scary,” said Maillo. “Then my green card expired this summer and it was not a good feeling driving around or looking for a job with no green card.”
For about an hour and a half, Maillo, Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, League of Women Voters volunteer Yvonne Freccero and Center for New Americans Citizenship Associate Tina Sanchez addressed a dozen people, laying out the process for and importance of becoming a U.S. citizen. Lisa Downing, director of the Forbes Library, moderated the discussion.
Maillo, upon deciding to apply, contacted the Center for New Americans, which has offices in Northampton, Amherst, Greenfield and Turners Falls. The Center for New Americans helps applicants with virtually every part of the process, which Sanchez admits can seem “daunting.”
“It is a difficult process, but I don’t ever want it to be explained in a way that scared anyone off,” said Sanchez. “To apply, you need to be a legal permanent resident for at least five years, unless you are married, in which case it’s three years. You also need to have a knowledge of U.S. history and geography.”
The Center for New Americans typically helps immigrants gather the required documents, study for the citizenship exam and prepare for their citizenship interview. The Center also offers free English classes, which are open to both documented and undocumented immigrants.
While Sanchez says that English fluency is not necessarily required to become a citizen, it helps to have a working knowledge of the language, and only in certain cases — like the presence of a learning disability — will the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services allow applicants to have a translator present for their citizenship interview.
“I bet if we took some random people off the street and gave them the test, I bet a good number of them would not be able to pass it,” said Sanchez. “It’s manageable, though. There is a determined set of questions and a determined set of answers.”
In the last year, Sanchez says that the number of people the Center for New Americans has helped with applications has doubled. She encourages eligible immigrants to use the center’s services, because sometimes scam artists will prey on immigrants who are overwhelmed by the process, offering fraudulent services or charging unnecessary fees for paperwork that should be free.
The cost of an application is $725, but, according to Sanchez, immigrants who can prove they have suffered recent financial hardships — or meet income guidelines — may apply for free or at a reduced cost.
Many new citizens, like Maillo, register to vote after taking the oath at their citizenship ceremony. The Northampton chapter of the League of Women Voters has previously attended the July Fourth ceremony to help new citizens register. Freccero, a volunteer with the League, says that the group’s mission is to increase U.S. voter turnout, which “lags behind many countries.”
“Voting is a privilege given to every citizen regardless of race, sex or class,” said Freccero. “We encourage all new citizens to vote. Your voice won’t be heard unless you vote.”
The event was part of the Naturalize NOW campaign, a nationwide effort to encourage more than 1 million immigrants to apply for citizenship in 2017. The nonpartisan campaign claims 8.8 million people are eligible for citizenship, and that 3.7 million of them may be able to receive a fee waiver. Northampton is the fourth smallest city to participate in the campaign, which includes Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and more than two dozen other U.S. cities.
“Northampton really prides itself on being a city that welcomes immigrants and refugees, and on being a sanctuary city — which I signed an executive order for in 2014,” said Narkewicz during Saturday’s panel discussion. “The reason little Northampton joins these big cities in campaigns like this is because we care about this. Sometimes it may be a cliche to say we are a nation of immigrants, but we are a city of immigrants.”
Narkewicz said encouraging immigrants to apply for citizenship feels personal to him, as all of his grandparents were immigrants from Poland and Ireland, and his wife is a naturalized citizen who went through the application process. On July Fourth of each year, Narkewicz participates in the Northampton ceremony when immigrants take the oath to become American citizens. In 2017, 51 immigrants became citizens at the July Fourth event organized by the Center for New Americans.
The panel discussion at the Calvin Coolidge Library took place a day before Citizenship Day, Sept. 17, the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Citizenship Day has also been known as “I am an American Day” since 1940, and during the week surrounding Citizenship Day, many more immigrants typically apply for citizenship than usual.
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, more than 30,000 immigrants will become U.S. citizens during this week.