Click the Thumbnail Photos at the top of the page to view the album and learn all about the Citizenship Fair!

On Saturday, January 29, 2005, a Citizenship Fair was hosted by the LA City College English Literacy and Citizenship Program, in partnership with the highly popular Spanish television station Univision a Su Lado (Channel 34), the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), Univision Inc., Hermandad Mexicana, and volunteers from numerous community organizations. The focus of the fair was to inform residents from throughout the Los Angeles region about citizenship and naturalization services available to the community, and in particular, free services and classes offered by the LACC English Literacy and Citizenship Program.

A well-organized promotional campaign resulted in a significant turnout of over 1,300 residents. The interest of the community was highly evident – attendees began forming lines that reached from the Camino Theater and Quad Area, out to Vermont Avenue, and down the street – way before the event actually started. Of the 1,300-plus attendees, 1,000 actually took advantage of the opportunity to begin their Naturalization process that day, completing their applications, required documents, and having their official pictures taken. After the morning session, the afternoon session consisted of a series of workshops facilitated by LACC’s Citizenship Program team. The workshops covered topics ranging from registering for free LACC classes such as English as a Second Language and Citizenship, to overviews of the naturalization application and interview process, and citizenship resources and services available from the public and non-profit sectors.

USCIS representatives--Los Angeles District Director Jane Areano, and Rico Cabrera, Community Liaison Officer--attended the event and were amazed at the number of applications completed during the day, which they collected for agency processing. The USCIS staff project that all applicants will receive their initial citizenship interviews within the next six months, and in order to prepare for these interviews, most, if not all of the 1,000 applicants are expected to register for Citizenship classes here at LACC. To prepare for these new students, the English Literacy and Citizenship Program is now offering more program orientations to assist them with the college matriculation process, placement, and counseling.

As of this writing, program staff are continuing to assist those attendees who did not complete their application process the day of the event with initiating their naturalization application and LACC registration processes. By the end of February, a total of 1,200 attendees are projected to have completed this process and enrolled at LACC. Nelines Colon-Paladini, Program Coordinator of the LACC Citizenship Program, indicated that without the commitment of the LACC team of Citizenship, Community Services, Financial Aid, Theater, Operations, and Administrative staff, and the volunteer spirit of over 75 volunteers from community partners, as well as from our very own Annie Cole, Political Science instructor, and 35 students from her classes, the event would not have been such a great success!