Washington, DC – Prominent community organizations and stakeholders have partnered together to launch the ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía! (Now is the time – Citizenship!) campaign, an unprecedented effort to inform, educate, and motivate eligible legal permanent residents who reside in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC to apply for U.S. citizenship in time to participate in the 2008 election.

“The campaign is extremely important because there is a lack of information about the process; many people simply do not know how or why to become a citizen,” said Teresa Ramirez, an eligible permanent resident and member of CASA de Maryland who is currently in the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. “With all of these community organizations spreading the message of citizenship and why it’s important, more people in the community will realize that being a U.S. citizen is a necessity, not a luxury,” added Ramirez.

The DC Metro Area campaign is part of a national effort that is already operating in 23 cities across the country, and as part of this local effort, participating organizations will assist hundreds of eligible legal permanent residents in becoming U.S. citizens. The launch of this effort is particularly timely since those who naturalize now will be able to participate in the next presidential election. Many worried that the 69% increase in citizenship fees implemented in July would hinder applicants from applying, but the number of applicants has continued to climb to record levels. Currently, more than 950,000 applications have been submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) this year, and that number should reach more than one million by year’s end.

“We interact with community members on a daily basis, and we see citizenship as a means of empowerment,” said Ulysses Ramirez, Community Organizer of Tenants and Workers United, a DC ya es hora campaign participating organization. “When the community is empowered to become citizens, they have the opportunity to take the next step and vote,” says Ramirez.

Currently, there are more than 200,000 legal permanent residents in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC who are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. The ya es hora ¡Ciudadanía! campaign seeks to address the barriers to citizenship – including lack of adequate and reliable information, lack of access to exam and language preparation, and cost – through a coordinated media and grassroots campaign that includes nonprofit organizations, immigration attorneys, English as a Second Language (ESL) service providers, and other institutions that have a unified goal of assisting our country’s newest Americans in reaching their dreams of U.S. citizenship.

“We’ve been working very hard to spread the campaign to different cities throughout the country and it’s great to be able to finally work with local organizations on this effort,” adds Stacy Terrell, Project Assistant at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). “The community organizations in this area are the key to the success of this campaign.”

“Through this campaign, we will host naturalization assistance workshops on December 1, 2007 and January 26, 2008,” noted Dimas Diaz, Division Supervisor, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ. “This campaign will help hundreds of area immigrants realize the dream of U.S. citizenship so that they can participate fully in American civic life,” continued Diaz.

The success of the campaign lies not only in the work of individual community organizations to promote the message of citizenship, but also in the local media’s efforts to promote the same message. The DC Metro Area campaign is partnering with Univision-WFDC and El Tiempo Latino. By working with two of the largest media outlets in the district, the campaign hopes to reach the area’s 200,000 legal permanent residents that are eligible to start the naturalization process.

“The community welcomes us into their homes every evening. Every day we have an opportunity to spread the message of the campaign and encourage Latinos in our community to become U.S. citizens,” said Rudy Guernica, Vice President and General Manager of Univision-WFDC.

Alberto Avendaño, Associate Publisher of El Tiempo Latino adds, “We are very excited to be a part of this important campaign. Through our weekly print outlet, we will help disseminate information about U.S. citizenship application requirements and work in conjunction with community organizations to increase local outreach.”

Applicants may call the campaign’s national bilingual information hotline, 1-888-Ve-Y-Vota (1-888-839-8682), or visit www.yaeshora.info to receive more information about the naturalization requirements and how and where to apply for U.S. citizenship.

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About the campaign: ya es hora is a historic Latino civic participation campaign that represents the largest and most comprehensive effort to incorporate Latinos as full participants in the American political process. The national effort is lead by Mi Familia Vota Educational Fund, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza, and Spanish-language media companies Entravision Communications Inc, ImpreMedia, and Univision Communications, Inc. For more information on the campaign, visit www.yaeshora.info.