Human Rights Campaign to help Latinos residents become U.S. citizens

July 2, 9:47 AMPhoenix LGBT Issues ExaminerKathy Young

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Volunteers prepare to help legal residents become U.S. citizens

The Human Rights Campaign will be participating in the “Ya Es Hora” campaign in Arizona. The campaign is working to help get 1 million Latinos that are eligible legal permanent residents to become U.S. citizens during 2009 and 2010. “Ya Es Hora” has helped process U.S. Citizenship applications for more than 1.4 million Latinos since 2007. Ya Es Hora is a multi-layered integrated campaign which provides a comprehensive approach that links naturalization to voter participation and Census enumeration under a single message: “it’s time.” HRC will be working with Mi Familia Vota, National Council of La Raza, NALEO Education Fund, SEIU, Somos America, Campesina, AILA, ACORN and Univision.

After the recent election, HRC has realized that the time for coalition building has never been greater. Cynthia Leigh Lewis, HRC Arizona Political Co-Chair, comments,

“The time has come to unite the LGBT and Hispanic Community. We have more in common than differences and we should work on our common issues. We need more legal residents becoming citizens so they can vote and make the much needed changes in both communities, especially related to civil rights and immigration.” Lewis continues, “Our communities have endured the use of wedge issues used against us by socially conservative politicians and civic leaders. In 2004, we saw marriage equality for same-sex couples used as a divisive issue. In 2006, social conservatives resorted to “illegal immigration” to drum up their base, creating a terrible backlash among Latino voters against the Republican Party. The use of wedge issues will continue to be used against us and urgently requires us to develop a strategy to blunt the effectiveness of wedge issues by building new allies and coalitions.”

Arizona is just one of a handful of pilot locations for HRC to participate in the Ya Es Hora event. Other locations include Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Washington, DC/Northern Virginia/Maryland, Orlando, Atlanta, and Charlotte and Raleigh, NC. Mi Familia Vota’s goal is to draw 200 people to the fair and HRC is planning to recruit 20-30 volunteers. Volunteers are needed to assist Latino/a individuals and families in completing their applications to become US citizens.

Saturday, July 11
Iglesia Discípulos del Reino
116 N Lindsay Rd, Suite 9
Mesa, AZ 85204

Or

Somerton Middle School
AWC Learning Center.
1011 N Somerton Avenue,
Somerton, AZ 85350

Volunteers needed: 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. 1 p.m. 5 p.m. or both shifts
(Workshop is open 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
Spanish fluency helpful, but not necessary.

Volunteers are required to attend the following trainings:
For the Mesa location:
SEIU
3707 N 7th St, Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85014
July 6, 6 p.m. for general volunteers
July 7, 6 p.m. for lawyers

For the Somerton location:
Public Safety Building (Yuma)
July 9, 6 p.m. for all volunteers

If interested, please RSVP to Kathy Young at kjkicks@gmail.com by July 5.