By: Ashmar Mandou

The Mayor’s Office and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced they will hold a series of citizenship workshops to share information on the naturalization process at certain Chicago Public Library locations. These locations will be known as “Citizenship Corners” and “Citizenship Hubs,” a vital resource to assure residents obtain the proper guidance on the citizenship process.

“We want to make sure our residents have the resources they need to become naturalized citizens,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel during a press conference Monday morning. “By providing free assistance to residents in their native language, we can point them in the right direction so that they can continue on their path to citizenship and protect them from any risk of consumer fraud.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there are currently 370,000 legal permanent residents eligible to become citizens in the State of Illinois and nearly 200,000 of them live in the City of Chicago.

“Citizenship Corners” will be available at 12 library locations of the Chicago Library to disseminate USCIS publications in the languages most commonly spoken in Chicago. In addition, 17 “Citizenship Hub” locations will partner with Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) recognized legal service groups and community organizations to host immigration, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and citizenship workshops. “As trusted resources in every community, libraries are the perfect choice as a place to offer this important information,” said Library Commissioner Brian Bannon.

As a component of the partnership, more than 50 librarians were trained on citizenship resources by USCIS staff and their community partners. The following Chicago Public Library branches will provide Citizenship Corners and Hubs.

Citizenship Corners
Austin-Irving; Budlong Woods; Richard J. Daley; Dunning; Gage Park; Garfield Ridge; Mayfair; McKinley Park; Scottsdale; South Chicago; West Belmont; West Town.

Citizenship Hubs
Back of the Yards (Fall 2013); Bezazian; Brighton Park; Chicago Lawn; Chinatown; Edgewater; Humboldt Park; Little Village; Lozano; Northtown; Portage-Cragin; Rogers Park; Toman; Sulzer Regional; Vodak East Side; West Lawn; Harold Washington Library Center

The Chicago public library will look to continue to expand the Citizenship Hub and Corners to additional libraries. For more information on Citizenship resources, please visit www.chicagopubliclibrary.org.