AILA and Partners to Help Thousands Apply for Citizenship on 4/21/12
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, April 19, 2012
CONTACTS:
George Tzamaras or Amanda Walkins
202-507-7649 / 202-507-7618
gtzamaras@aila.org / awalkins@aila.org
WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is proud to sponsor the 6th annual Citizenship Day on Saturday, April 21, 2012. This single-day workshop with sites around the country provides assistance to lawful permanent residents eligible for naturalization. In partnership with the "ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía!" campaign, AILA will hold 50 naturalization clinics in 18 states serving thousands of immigrants who are preparing to become citizens. "Our annual Citizenship Day is an event all AILA members can support. Collectively, we work with individuals from all over the world who are all striving to come to the U.S., and many of those individuals wish to stay here to make a life for themselves and for their families. It is an honor to help those immigrants finalize their status to become American Citizens," said AILA President Eleanor Pelta.
As a one-day, nationwide event, AILA Citizenship Day provides free or low-cost assistance to eligible legal permanent residents who wish to apply for U.S. citizenship, utilizing partnerships between AILA chapters across the country and the grassroots campaign "ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía!" In 2012, AILA Citizenship Day will celebrate its 6th anniversary on a national scale and its 4th year working with the campaign.
AILA's successes are due in large part to the national collaborative relationships that AILA has developed both with community organizations and stakeholders, as well as the USCIS Office of Citizenship. "As individual attorneys, our daily professional work is life changing. When we join together to help a community we are a force to be reckoned with; we can make such a huge difference," said Susan Timmons, Associate Director of AILA's Practice and Professionalism Center. "Coordinating Citizenship Day with our partners grants AILA members the opportunity to reach an exponentially larger group. Together, we help hard working residents become citizens of the United States - we help them realize the American dream."
AILA Citizenship Day was awarded the 2008 Award of Excellence in the "Associations Advance America" awards program, a national competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and The Center for Association Leadership.
Citizenship Clinics will be held in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C. A list of clinic coordinators and their email addresses is available after this release.
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The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.
Arizona
Ezequiel ("Ez") Hernandez: ezh@hernandezglobal.com
California
Tammy Lin: tammyl@jfssd.org
Erin Quinn: equinn@ilrc.org
David Palmer: david@jewellfirm.com
Colorado
Aaron Clarke Hall: aaron@immigrationissues.com
Maria Monclova: monclovalaw@ymail.com
Georgia
Elizabeth Garvish: egarvish@goimmigrationlaw.com
Anne Koch: anne@kochimmigration.com
Florida
Kara Roberts: kara.roberts@jaxlegalaid.org
John Dubrule: johnd@gulfcoastlegal.org
Sui Chung: schung@lawgroupusa.com
Hawaii
John Robert Egan: jegan@migrationcounsel.com
Illinois
Cathy Higgins-Mora: chiggins@hsplegal.com
Edyta Salata: edyta@salatalaw.net
Maria Frenn Kallmeyer: maria.kallmeyer@quarles.com
Massachusetts
Sara Ward: sara@maionaward.com
Ondine Galvez Sniffin: galvezsniffin@hotmail.com
Michigan
David Koelsch: koelscdc@udmercy.edu
New York
Karin Wolman: karin@kwvisalaw.com
Charlotte Smith: csmith@fragomen.com
Ohio
Stacy Cozart: cozart@visaskk.com
Matt Nierman: mnierman@shihablawyers.com
Jorge Martinez: jorge@jortinez.com
Pennsylvania
Judi Bernstein-Baker: jbernsteinbaker@hiaspa.org
Valentine Brown: vbrown@duanemorris.com
Texas
Frances Valdez: fvaldezlaw@gmail.com
Washington
Chris Helm: chrishelm@dwt.com
Megan Vogel: meganvogel@dwt.com
Karin Tolgu: karintolgu@msn.com
Washington, D.C.
Jonelle Ocloo: jonelleo@murthy.com