About 190,000 Santa Clara County residents are eligible to naturalize, this group is trying to help them. The high fee is a problem for many of them - - Donna Poisl
By Ken McLaughlin, Mercury News
Over the past 13 years, the Santa Clara County Citizenship Collaborative has helped more than 120,000 people through the lengthy and often byzantine naturalization process to become American citizens.
But this year, selling the idea of citizenship might face its biggest hurdle.
The problem: Citizenship applications now cost a lot of money, while many low-income immigrants are hurting because the economy is in the tank.
"We realize that paying the rent must come first and food is second," and that paying a $675 fee to the federal government might be unaffordable, said Teresa Castellanos, interim director of the Santa Clara County Office of Human Relations.
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This country was built by immigrants, it will continue to attract and need immigrants. Some people think there are enough people here now -- people have been saying this since the 1700s and it still is not true. They are needed to make up for our aging population and low birthrate. Immigrants often are entrepreneurs, creating jobs. We must help them become Americans and not just people who live here and think of themselves as visitors. When immigrants succeed here, the whole country benefits.
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