Empowering Dozens of Legal Residents to Become Voting U.S. Citizens and Providing Comprehensive Naturalization Services at No Cost

Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. (WFUNJ) and the Essex-West Hudson Central Labor Council proudly launched the “One Pathway, Many Voices, Stronger Communities” grassroots initiative on Saturday – the largest most comprehensive grassroots citizenship and voter registration campaign in state history. This long-term initiative will provide an opportunity for thousands of legal residents to become U.S. citizens, to register to vote, to learn how our electoral process works, and for DREAMER students to renew their DACA application. Over 100 coalition partners participated in today’s campaign kickoff, approximately 50 legal residents from North, Central, and South Jersey received assistance with their U.S. citizenship applications thanks to the dedicated support of 25 volunteers and eight pro-bono attorneys.

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“It is an honor to host this inaugural citizenship clinic here in Essex County, which for generations has been a beacon of opportunity for immigrant families seeking a better life in our nation,” stated Essex-West Hudson CLC President Thomas Giblin. “By assisting these families on the path to U.S. Citizenship, we continue a great American tradition of expanding our democracy and ensuing that the voices of all working families are heard.”

“I have always dreamed of becoming a U.S. Citizen. Thanks to the support and resources of this workshop, I can now look forward to making that dream come true,” stated Johan Loiza from Wharton, New Jersey.

“The potential of this campaign to build stronger more civically engaged communities is unparalleled,” stated WFUNJ Executive Director Edward Correa, “In New Jersey alone, there are approximately 390,000 legal permanent residents who are eligible to apply for U.S. Citizenship and become engaged voters. Empowering these individuals to voice their vote is not only an integral part of fulfilling the American Dream, but also essential to building stronger communities.”

This grassroots initiative will continue to provide complimentary one-on-one assistance to thousands of our state’s residents who are eligible to become U.S. Citizens around the state. The following labor and community organizations are supporters of this campaign:

Anakbayan New Jersey • Binational Mexican-American Summit of New Jersey • Casa Esperanza • Casa Freehold • Colombianos sin Fronteras • Essex-West Hudson Central Labor Council • Filipino American Political Action Committee • Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey • Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund • Latino American Democratic Organization • LatinoJustice • Mongolian Community • Mujeres en Acción por New Jersey • National Alliance for Filipino Concerns • National AFL-CIO • National Association of Latino Elected Officials – Educational Fund • National Organization for Women – NJ Chapter • National Partnership for New Americans • New Jersey State AFL-CIO • New Jersey State Conference NAACP • Own The Dream • Unidad Latina en Acción por New Jersey • We are United and Organized • Yolibu Latin-American Organization

WFUNJ is a non-partisan 501(c)(4) statewide grassroots coalition, comprised of over 256 progressive, labor, religious, community, civil rights, student, women, and retirees groups, working together to build grassroots power and to educate and mobilize around the common issues that affect our state’s families.