SILVER SPRING, Maryland — CLINIC affiliates make up more than one third of grant recipients nationwide for a program that funds citizenship and naturalization programs.

Fifteen agencies in the CLINIC network were among the 41 organizations in 24 states that received a funding award through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fiscal Year 2019 Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program, announced Sept. 26. The two-year grants of up to $250,000 each will support citizenship classes, naturalization application assistance and services aimed at helping immigrants integrate. The program has helped more than 245,000 permanent residents prepare for citizenship over the last 11 years.

CLINIC’s affiliates have received funding through the highly competitive grant program since its inception in 2009. This year, 37 percent of the 41 grantees are CLINIC affiliates. 

Of the 15 CLINIC affiliates that received a grant from USCIS, five are Catholic legal immigration programs:

• Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans
• Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, Inc., in Overland Park
• Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada, in Reno
• Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, in California
• Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fort Worth, Inc., in Texas

The remaining 10 are community-based legal immigration programs:

• Church World Service, Inc., in Durham, North Carolina
• Hartford Public Library, in Connecticut
• Instituto del Progreso Latino, in Chicago
• Jewish Family Service of San Diego, California
• Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, Inc., in Springfield
• Lutheran Community Services Northwest, in Portland, Oregon
• Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, in Denver
• Pars Equality Center, in Sherman Oaks, California
• Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton-Manhattan Beach, Inc., in Brooklyn, New York
• The International Institute of St. Louis

CLINIC Executive Director Anna Gallagher congratulated the recipients, noting: “USCIS citizenship grants have helped our affiliates provide assistance for vulnerable immigrants to become citizens. This is an invaluable step for immigrants to become fully established in their new home country. Naturalization truly changes lives and we are grateful that USCIS continues to support this work.”