What Is Cities for Citizenship?

Cities for Citizenship is an urban initiative that aims to register legal permanent aliens as U.S. citizens through citizenship programs.

The program is chaired by the mayors of the three largest cities in America, including Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, according to the initiative’s website.

The program primarily concerns itself with addressing the status of financial and legal problems. The initiative sets up workshops for legal permanent immigrants, and works with them to reach the goal of registering them as American citizens.

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There are currently more than 8 million legal residents in America who are not citizens but are eligible, according to the Cities for Citizenship website. More than half of those residents are considered to be living under low-income. Cities for Citizenship aims to register legal permanent immigrants as American citizens to raise their standard of living.

"Citizenship is a powerful poverty-fighting tool because it brings huge economic benefits to families and to communities," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to The Wall Street Journal. "More than that, it helps keep families together."

According to a report by The Center for Popular Democracy, if near half of all eligible immigrants in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York became citizens, the increase in economic activity over 10 years would amount to about $5 billion to $10 billion.

"Immigrants are the backbone of our economy," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, according to The Wall Street Journal. "It's time we encouraged their successful integration into our social and political tapestry to continue boosting our economy and not stand in the way of it."

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