#DeepeningOurRoots Monthly Giving Campaign

Mohamd and his wife Asma and two children, Retaj and Akram, resettled in Chicago in 2015. Mohamad was suffering from cancer when the conflict began in 2011.  Mohamed has been working extra hard to ensure that his family is thriving. Both of his children are doing well in school and play a musical instrument. Mohamad is a model father, husband and a new American. He is so happy to have been able to apply to become a U.S. citizen. In Mohamad’s words, “Thank you Mr. Al (Al Peters) from Syrian Community Network for helping me file my papers for citizenship and for helping me to not pay any fees.”

Over 60% of SCN clients will be eligible to become U.S. citizens within the next year. After five years in the United States, citizenship will allow our refugee families to become truly rooted and secure in their new communities. 

Last August, SCN was awarded recognition from the Department of Justice after proving that our staff had the expertise and experience to act as a trusted legal advisor to immigrant communities. But, even with SCN’s support, refugee clients face numerous difficulties during the application process, including covering the high cost of the application.

Over the summer, the Trump administration announced that it intended to increase fees for citizenship applications by over 80% come October. Fortunately, just before the rule went into effect, a court temporarily blocked the fee hike, which would have raised the costs for a single citizenship application from $640 to $1,160 (not including additional service fees). This would be an astounding expense to our low-income refugee families, many of whom seek to naturalize multiple family members at the same time. 

To ease this burden, SCN legal staff prepare and file applications for free, adding no additional costs for our services. With our clients’ household income averaging around $2,000 per month, staff also help clients apply for fee waivers so that they can naturalize without going into debt.

At a time when immigration has become a divisive political issue, many of our families are eager to secure their status as Americans. We are committed to offering citizenship application assistance to refugee families at no cost to them — a service which is only made possible due to donations like yours.

Invest in New Americans Now!

A monthly gift of $25, $50, or $75 will help us provide free citizenship education and application assistance to aspiring Americans.

By investing monthly, you’re joining a generous community that welcomes refugees and helps them gain newfound security by becoming U.S. citizens.