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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34) led 25 of his colleagues on a letter to House leadership urging continued support for funding for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Citizenship and Integration Grant Program (CIGP). CIGP is a critical program for supporting the integration of immigrants into the social, cultural, economic, and civic life of the United States.

After years of increased funding in recognition of the important role of these grants, the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee eliminated all funding for the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in its FY 2024 bill.

“We were deeply disappointed that the Appropriations Committee removed all funding for the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in its FY 2024 bill despite years of demonstrated success, and we urge you to maintain funding for the program,” wrote Gomez and members. “By providing increased assistance through the Grant Program, [lawful permanent residents (LPRs)] could have greater access to naturalization and English-language classes. Clearly, the need exists to support LPRs interested in becoming citizens, and the vehicle for meeting that need is to increase investments in CIGP.”

Since it began in 2009, CIGP has awarded a total of $132 million through 579 competitive grants to immigrant-serving organizations in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Even at its funding levels before Republican cuts, CIGP resources were stretched thin and further funds are still needed to serve eligible communities and institutions.

This letter follows a push for additional funding that Gomez led along with 49 of his colleagues in April 2023, urging a funding increase to $100 million for CIGP. Rep. Gomez has long advocated for robustly funding citizenship education and immigrant integration grants, and has successfully increased funding for the program by 250% over the past two years. 

Since 2017, the Office of Congressman Gomez has helped over 1,000 constituents with immigration cases, including applications for lawful permanent resident status (also known as a Green Card), employment authorization, and visas and has hosted citizenship workshops across California’s 34th Congressional District. 

A PDF of the letter can be found HERE and the full text is below:

Dear Speaker McCarthy and Leader Jeffries:

We write to request your continued support for funding for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Citizenship and Integration Grant Program, a critical program for supporting the integration of immigrants into the social, cultural, economic, and civic life of the United States. We were deeply disappointed that the Appropriations Committee removed all funding for the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in its FY 2024 bill despite years of demonstrated success, and we urge you to maintain funding for the program.

As you know, the USCIS Citizenship and Integration Grant Program (CIGP) has been part of a multifaceted effort to provide U.S. citizenship preparation resources, support, and information to immigrants and immigrant-serving institutions. Since 2009, the CIGP has awarded more than $132 million through 579 competitive grants to immigrant-serving organizations in 39 states and the District of Columbia. The program has helped more than 300,000 lawful permanent residents (LPRs) prepare for U.S. citizenship.^[1]

Unfortunately, even after important investments in citizenship preparation resources, the CIGP currently serves only a fraction of eligible immigrants and immigrant-serving institutions. Despite its life changing impact, the 300,000 LPRs reached by CIGP in its entire history represent less than one percent of the over nine million potentially-eligible LPRs (.033 percent).^[2]  On an annual basis, the number of LPRs who will receive citizenship preparation services through the CIGP is even smaller, an estimated 25,000 due to FY 2021 funding.^[3] Notably, this group of eligible LPRs consists of an estimated 32% who have an income level below 150% of the federal poverty level, and an estimated three million who speak little to no English. By providing increased assistance through the Grant Program, this eligible population could have greater access to naturalization and English-language classes. Clearly, the need exists to support LPRs interested in becoming citizens, and the vehicle for meeting that need is to increase investments in CIGP.

Additionally, while USCIS reviewed and supported funding for only 66 organizations nationwide, recipient organizations served both traditional immigrant population centers and emerging immigrant population centers in only 35 states, out of 50 states and several territories. Increasing funding for the CIGP will both support immigrant-serving institutions, as well as increase the capacity for additional qualified legal service providers to assist with the naturalization application and process. This will allow USCIS to more efficiently adjudicate applications by reducing filing errors, likely contributing to the agency-wide effort towards reducing casework backlogs and improving processing times. Increasing funding will also further the goals of the Interagency Strategy for Promoting Naturalization, established by Executive Order 14012, Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans.^[4] This Order established a naturalization working group that aims to promote naturalization through education, capacity building and partnerships.

We urge you to continue funding for the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program to maintain and expand support for the integration of immigrants into the social, cultural, economic, and civic life of the United States.

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