Promote Citizenship and Immigrant Civic Integration

 In FY 2012, USCIS:

• Awarded approximately $5 million through its Citizenship and Integration Grant Program. The grants, awarded in FY 2012 to 31 immigrant-serving organizations from 21 states and the District of Columbia, promote immigrant civic integration and prepare permanent residents for citizenship.
• Introduced new citizenship preparation tools designed to help immigrants prepare for the civics portion of the naturalization test, including:

• “Preparing for the Oath: U.S. History and Civics for Citizenship”, a Web-based learning tool launched in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
• New interactive learning activities added to the online Citizenship Resource Center to help prepare applicants for the English portion of the naturalization test.
• Translated versions of several resources for those eligible to take the civics test in their native language.

• Launched Citizenship Corners, a joint initiative with the City of Los Angeles to provide the 73 public libraries there with citizenship education resources and tailored citizenship and naturalization training for library staff.

• Continued its program to provide training on American history, civics and the naturalization process to adult educators who work to prepare permanent residents for citizenship. USCIS held 33 training workshops across the country for more than 1,500 instructors during the fiscal year.

• Recognized 10 naturalized U.S. citizens as Outstanding Americans by Choice who, through civic participation, professional achievement and responsible citizenship, have demonstrated their commitment to this country and to the common civic values that unite us as Americans.

• Conducted high-profile naturalization ceremonies around the themes of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, World Refugee Day, Independence Day, Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, as well as for events such as the Entrepreneurs in Residence Summit; release of the joint USCIS-Smithsonian project, “Preparing for the Oath: U.S. History and Civics for Citizenship”; and the National Immigrant Integration Conference in Baltimore.

• Boosted citizenship information and services for members of the armed forces and their dependents through increased presence on U.S. military installations. More than 6,000 enlistees have become naturalized through this effort. This fiscal year, we:

• Naturalized 763,690 new citizens, including more than 9,000 U.S. military personnel and members of their families.
• Naturalized 986 members of the military and their qualified family members in 21 foreign countries.
• Expanded a USCIS presence to installations in four branches of the armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines), making it possible for recruits in basic training to become citizens before they deploy, without having to travel to a USCIS field office.