Providence residents seeking citizenship can get help: What Elorza is doing with $500K

Amy Russo, The Providence Journal
·2 min read
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PROVIDENCE — Mayor Jorge Elorza on Thursday announced the start of a $500,000 legal-aid fund to help immigrants in Providence gain U.S. citizenship.

The program, funded by federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, is administered through local nonprofit Dorcas International, which helps immigrants and refugees with everything from employment to resettlement and citizenship.

Those who wish to apply must be Providence residents with "a household income that is at or below 300% of the federal poverty level guidelines or at or below 65% of the area median income," the city said. Dorcas can help applicants to achieve or renew their citizenship status.

How the money will help Providence residents applying to be U.S. citizens

A naturalization application fee costs $725 for anyone younger than 75 years old. Those who are 75 and older must pay $640. Such costs can deter immigrants from applying, though Dorcas' new fund can help offset expenses.

Rayanny Thornton, who emigrated from Brazil to Providence in 2017 and is in the process of attaining citizenship, called the process "very expensive."

"It’s a very complicated system that if you don’t have the knowledge, you can fall through gaps of information that feel difficult to process," Thornton said, crediting Dorcas as a place where she could find assistance.

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For Elorza, the issue is personal. The mayor's parents arrived in the United States illegally from Guatemala, which meant a life of constant concern and financial difficulties.

"Before citizenship, my family worked in odd jobs, always in factories, sometimes being paid less than minimum wage," Elorza said. "We never had health care insurance. We were never able to fully participate in various programs. We were always concerned about what may happen if my family was discovered to be living here undocumented."

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Kathy Cloutier, Dorcas' executive director, noted that attitudes toward immigration help have shifted, and "in the last few years, there was much more openness and awareness" about supporting foreign-born residents.

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Cloutier is hoping the added attention to the issue will encourage continued investment and help sustain the legal-aid program.

"I think with this kind of acknowledgement and recognition, there will be many more opportunities for funding, public and private," she said.

Those interested in applying for Dorcas' program can call the organization at (401) 784-8600 or visit PVDRescuePlan.com/Apply.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence to help residents to pay naturalization application fees