Photo: Kyle Bray/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — This year’s Boston's Citizenship Day event in Roxbury provided resources for U.S. citizen hopefuls amid unsettling time for immigrants.
The annual event, hosted by the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement and a non-profit called Project Citizenship, is geared to help immigrants begin the application process to become naturalized citizens.
“We’ve had over 40 people come this morning without appointments hoping they could still be seen by a volunteer and an attorney today and go through this process,” Gail Breslow, director of Project Citizenship, told WBZ NewsRadio. “We’ve done everything we can to make today feel safe for everyone.”
Since 2014, Citizenship Day has helped more than 3,000 people and waived more than 1,800 fees. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, it costs $760 for an Application for Naturalization.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said community resources like this are especially important amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
“There’s a huge demand [from] residents wanting to make sure that they are getting their forms in and getting this done,” Wu said.
Breslow said the goal of Citizenship Day is also to provide reassurance and encouragement for immigrants who are on the fence about becoming citizens.
City officials ramped up security at the event to make sure attendees can safely take part without fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Axios reported.
“Boston is a city of belonging,” Breslow said. “We are determined to help as many people as want to go through that process to do so. We’re not going anywhere, we’re not letting anyone make it impossible for us to do this work and we are determined to be here.”
WBZ NewsRadio's Mike Macklin reports.