VCU news

By Brian McNeill

Anita Nadal, an assistant professor of Spanish at Virginia Commonwealth University, stood before a classroom full of immigrants at Ramsey Memorial United Methodist Church on a recent Saturday morning, quizzing them on questions likely to appear on the U.S. citizenship test.

“What do we show loyalty to when we say the pledge allegiance?” she asked.

“To the flag and to the United States,” replied Danilo Osegueda, who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in 1982 and has lived in Chesterfield County since the early 1990s.

“What is one reason the colonists came to America?” she asked.

“Freedom of religion,” one person ventured. “To escape persecution,” said another.

“Who is the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives?”

“John Boehner,” Osegueda called out.

The Richmond-area immigrants were participating in a weekly class taught by Nadal and VCU students that teaches the immigrants English and prepares them for the U.S. citizenship test.

The class is supported by a $20,000 community engagement grant called “A Welcoming Richmond.” These grants are awarded annually by the Council for Community Engagement and administered by VCU Division of Community Engagement.

“What’s exciting about this is that this grant is actually helping people become citizens,” Nadal said. “We have in the Richmond area many, many individuals who are here legally but who are not U.S. citizens – but they would very much like to be.”

The grant is a partnership of the School of World Studies in the College of Humanities and Sciences, VCU’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the Bridge Community Development Corporation and the City of Richmond’s Office of Multicultural Affairs.

As part of the grant, legal immigrants not only have the opportunity to take the class as they prepare for the citizenship test, but the top students also have their citizenship application fees funded.

“Immigrants who want to become citizens in the U.S. have to pay a fee of $680 per person, so a family with three kids, for example, would have to come up with over $3,000,” Nadal said. “They’re legal residents but in order to become citizens they have to pay that fee, and that’s a steep amount of money for people who are often poverty stricken. We wanted to assist them with this need.”

So far, the grant has paid for five immigrants’ fees, and the Bridge CDC has paid for a sixth.

“By offering citizenship classes, the Bridge CDC and Professor Nadal are creating a more welcoming Richmond,” said Terrell Pollard of the Bridge CDC. “Such a community benefits from the innovation, entrepreneurship, various skill levels, youth and overall job growth that new Americans provide.”

The Bridge CDC, he said, recruits and screens students for participation in the classes and also provides facilities and administrative support and helps select the educational materials. The nonprofit organization has offered ESL classes for a number of years in Richmond, and the new class adds a civics component.

All of our classes help to dispel the myths that surround the naturalization process, and help all residents better understand the U.S. government and their rights.

“All of our classes help to dispel the myths that surround the naturalization process, and help all residents better understand the U.S. government and their rights,” Pollard said. “The provision of the citizenship class helped eligible residents commit to specific days and times to pursue their goals of becoming a U.S. citizen; doing so individually can be difficult when you have competing priorities such as work and kids.”

Maria Del Carmen Escobar, a mother of three who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador in 1980, said she is working toward her citizenship because the U.S. has long been her home and she loves this country.

“I want to be a citizen here for a change and for a better life,” she said.

Osequeda, a truck driver and father of two, is pursuing his citizenship because he wants to enjoy the full rights enjoyed Americans.

“Being a citizen will give me more rights and opportunities,” he said. “A right to free speech, a right to vote, a right to run for office, work for police or the fire department, and a right to travel [as an American citizen].”

Nadal was inspired to launch the project after taking an immigration course taught by Saltanat Liebert, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Wilder School. Liebert is co-principal investigator on the community engagement grant.

Last fall, Nadal taught a service-learning course, Spanish 322: Hispanic Immigrants in the U.S., that was affiliated with the grant. Students enrolled in the course helped teach the citizenship classes.

A number of the students, such as Genai Coward, a Spanish and biology double major, decided to continue volunteering with the classes after the service-learning course wrapped up.

Coward, who will graduate this summer, said the citizenship class is particularly helpful because it offers instruction in both English and Spanish.

“It’s a great program,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to help immigrants. It’s very useful to them.”

In the fall, 28 immigrants took the course, followed by 16 in the spring and 10 this summer.

Emily Sumner, an immigration lawyer with Sumner Immigration Law, took part in the panel interview for the grant that supports the program, and also provided training to the students who helped the applicants prepare for the naturalization process.

The citizenship class, she said, is particularly helpful for Richmond-area immigrants because it demystifies the process, which is perceived by many to be difficult, expensive and overwhelming.

I think a lot of people are interested in becoming U.S. citizens and would benefit from being citizens, but, like anyone else, they are so busy working, parenting and living their lives that it falls to the bottom of the list sometimes.

“I think a lot of people are interested in becoming U.S. citizens and would benefit from being citizens, but, like anyone else, they are so busy working, parenting and living their lives that it falls to the bottom of the list sometimes,” she said. “It seems that a structured program like this really makes the process more approachable, and makes it more likely that they will see the entire process through successfully.”

The class has also likely proven to be an eye-opening experience for the VCU students, Sumner said, as it offered a small glimpse into what immigrants must go through in order to become U.S. citizens.

“Working as an immigration attorney, I feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for the newcomers to our country and for the richness that they lend to our communities,” she said. “I also have really come to appreciate what they go through, not just to leave their own homes and come to a new country, but to ultimately obtain permanent residence and citizenship. I hope the students participating in the program also got a sense of this and are able to share their positive experiences with others in the community.”

The city of Richmond has also played an important role in the program by referring local immigrants to the classes.

“The Richmond Office of Multicultural Affairs has been referring community members to the citizenship classes, as well as promoting the opportunity to the Richmond community through our various networks,” said Tanya Gonzalez, manager of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “For people that are eligible and ready to become U.S. citizens, the program is a wonderful opportunity to get preparation and guidance to take the test.”

 

Feature image at top: Anita Nadal, an assistant professor of Spanish at VCU, speaks during a recent class for immigrants preparing for the U.S. citizenship test.

 

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