SAN DIEGO — A new partnership between the City of San Diego, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, the San Diego International Airport and New American Workforce will make citizenship services available onsite for city and airport employees and their families.
Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Jerry Sanders, San Diego International Airport CEO Kim Becker and National Immigration Forum Executive Director Ali Noorani announced the initiative today.
New American Workforce, a project of the National Immigration Forum, works with more than 250 businesses in eight cities with high concentrations of legal permanent residents to assist their eligible employees with the citizenship process. The program provides a series of citizenship application workshops for lawful permanent resident employees interested in taking the next step in their American dream.
San Diego was a founding municipal partner of New American Workforce when it launched two years ago. Since then, 55 local businesses have joined the initiative and helped more than 1,000 people through the citizenship application process.
The San Diego International Airport is one of the first airport partners of the program.
Below are quotes from speakers at today’s event:
Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City of San Diego:
“Immigrants have long played an important role in shaping San Diego’s culture and economy. Legal permanent residents deserve help along their path to citizenship so they can take part in the American dream. This program will support the business community, strengthen our city workforce and give hard-working San Diegans the opportunity to become full-fledged Americans.”
Jerry Sanders, Chief Executive Officer, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce:
“As a network of businesses in the San Diego region, we are glad to partner with a project like New American Workforce that makes worksite citizenship services available to the 204,000 eligible legal permanent residents in our region and enables the San Diego employers to create an even more talented and stable workforce, benefiting the entire region.”
Kimberly J. Becker, President/CEO, San Diego International Airport:
“I’m very proud to say that San Diego International Airport will be participating in the New American Workforce program to offer citizenship assistance to our eligible employees. This program is designed to make a tremendous difference in the lives of those who participate. Helping people on the path to citizenship unlocks whole new worlds of opportunity, and I am thrilled that airport employees and their families will have the chance to benefit from this fantastic program.”
Ali Noorani, Executive Director, National Immigration Forum:
“We applaud Mayor Faulconer, the City of San Diego and the San Diego International Airport for offering so many opportunities to their immigrant constituents, and we’re proud to partner with them through our New American Workforce program. The city is ensuring that their foreign-born residents have access to resources to gain the opportunities, skills and status needed to reach their fullest potential, while strengthening the greater community. Together, we are encouraging the business community to offer citizenship services to their employees right at the worksite — enabling their final step in their American dream.”