H EADLINES
HIAS PA: New Regulations Hinder Immigrant Voting
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
PROCESSING DELAYS and
rising fees will prevent thousands
of eligible immigrants from voting
in the 2020 general election, HIAS
Pennsylvania said during a Sept.

16 Facebook Live event.

“We have seen a steady
and increasing amount of
disenfranchisement that’s
happening on a massive scale.

People who are eligible to
naturalize are paying taxes,”
Executive Director Cathryn
Miller-Wilson said. “But they
are not allowed to vote because
of the changes in regulations
that have caused enormous
delays and have resulted in
people not being able to get
their petitions processed or
their oath ceremonies take
place in time.”
M i l ler-Wi lson hosted
“C it i z e n s h ip
D e l ay e d :
Naturalization and Voting for
New Immigrants” with two
staff members. Symbol Lai,
deputy director of the City of
Philadelphia’s Offi ce of Immigrant
Aff airs, also joined to provide
information about voting.

Lori Alexander, director
of HIAS PA’s Citizenship and
Family Reunifi cation Program,
said that since only United
States citizens can vote, the
backlogs of citizenship applica-
tions means many immigrants
will not be naturalized in time
to meet registration deadlines
and cast a ballot in November.

To apply for citizenship,
immigrants must be 18 years
of age or older and have lawful
permanent resident status, or
a green card, for at least fi ve
years (three if married to an
American citizen). Th ey must
also demonstrate they have
abided by the country’s laws
during their residence.

She explained
that immigrants who meet the
requirements must fi le an
application, which can take
months to be approved.

Immigrants swear an oath of allegiance to the United States during a
Th ey also must demonstrate naturalization ceremony at a community college in Illinois in 2015.

Photo by COD Newsroom licensed under CC BY 2.0
their profi ciency in basic English
and civics during a naturaliza-
tion interview and test. Th ey they swear their allegiance to the over 200,000 less individuals
offi cially become citizens during U.S., which typically takes place are expected to be natural-
a naturalization ceremony when two months aft er the interview. ized,” Clark said.

Th ey can register to vote as soon
She said that in addition to
as the ceremony is completed, facing formidable bureaucra-
but not before.

cies, the coming weeks will
Th is means that even those bring new fi nancial obsta-
who meet every citizenship cles to immigrants trying to
requirement and pass their become citizens.

Over 2 Decades of Quality Service
interviews cannot vote if their
It costs $725 to apply for U.S.

ceremony is delayed, as many citizenship, and fee waivers are
have been due to the pandemic. available for those whose house-
Alexander said the average hold income is at or below 150%
We’re There When You Need Us!
processing time for citizenship of the federal poverty level.

Trusted, Quality, Aff ordable, Dependable,
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seven to eight months before the fee waiver option, where appli-
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instead of the full application
Mary Clark, HIAS PA’s fee if they can demonstrate
Philadelphia Citizenship that their household income
Area's Finest and
Action Network
Coordinator, is below 200% of the federal
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added that increased wait times poverty level.

Home Care Services
were already a problem before
Beginning Oct. 2, citizen-
the pandemic
due to
funding ship
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and fee waivers
issues and policy changes. In
OPTIONS will
be eliminated
for many
fi scal year 2016, processing
applicants. times were 5½ months on
Providing Care Since 1999
Lai recommended first-
average. RN on Staff
Clark said that the time immigrant voters who
Department of Homeland have managed to be natural-
Nurse's Aides,
Security claimed to be on track ized in time consult the City
Home Health Aides,
SENIORS TO SENIORS
Companions, to naturalize 600,000 individ- of Philadelphia’s mail-in ballot
Hourly-Live-Ins uals in fi scal 2020, which ends guide, which is available online
Good looking woman, 65 years old. Intelli-
gent and educated. Open her heart for reli-
and has been translated into
in September.

Bonded and Insured
able intelligent man 60-75 for partnership
“So to give you sort of a several languages. It also has
and friendship. Widower or divorced man.

PA Licensed
610-642-1524 contrast, in fi scal year 2019, information about important
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they naturalized over 800,000 registration
and voting
To advertise in our
individuals. And this year, deadlines. ●
CALL LOIS KAMINSKY
which is an election year and
Directories 215•947•0304
we assume that more applica- spanzer@jewishexponent.com;
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SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
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