This article by Marcus E. Howard appeared in the Marietta Daily Journal on Monday, August 17, 2009.
American Legion Post 29 in Marietta is venturing into unknown territory as the first post in the country chosen by the federal government to assist legal immigrants in becoming U.S. citizens.
Post 29 at 921 Gresham Avenue at Roswell Road was chosen by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to run a pilot program to assist legal immigrants on the path to citizenship. About 20 post members have already trained to prepare immigrants for the mandatory citizenship test. Now, it just needs immigrants to help.
"Our biggest obstacle is getting the word out to the immigrant population," said Bill Beaudin, Post 29 commander. "And it's all the different populations. It is not just the Hispanics. They can be Vietnamese or from any country."
The program is aimed at immigrants with green cards. The post will host regular classes, teaching them basic English vocabulary, U.S. history and civic lessons to prepare them for the test. The post is in the early stages of planning the best way to carry out the program. It's decided to reach out to churches and community organizations that have regular contact with immigrants.
"Right now we're looking for partners," Beaudin said. "We want to see how they run their classes and do what they do, so that we can see what worked for them snd what didn't. And try to learn from other peoples' mistakes."
Post volunteers have already worked with staff at Transfiguration Catholic Church at 1815 Blackwell Road in east Cobb. Transfiguration has a sizable immigrant population and conducts mass each Sunday in Spanish. It also teaches English as a Second Language classes."
"Who better than the American Legion post to teach those people love of country?" said Paul Miller, a Transfiguration member and volunteer.
Early this year, the post had a conference call with its national office and federal imigration officials about the pilot program. A few months later, post members met with Carlos Munoz-Acevedo, program manager for USCIS's, and Joe Kernan, USCIS's local community relations officcer.
Munoz-Acevedo said Georgia, particularly metro Atlanta, has become a new gateway for immigrants and that there's been tremendous growth in the legal immigration population.
Many communities don't have the infrastructure to help legal immigrants learn about our country. "This is that opportunity, " he said in an interview with the American Legion Dispatch newspaper.
"We think traditional civic organizations like the Legion are great to lead these efforts."
Beaudin said immigrants participating in the citizenship classes will have access to a civics and citizenship toolkit, which provides a collection of educational resources such as sample citizenship test, a copy of the U.S. Constitution, flash cards and a DVD.
"It seems everybody supports legal immigration. All of our ancestors were immigrants to this country," said Beaudin, a Vietnam veteran.
"If we support the system - the way it is set up - we need to get behind it and help people who come here legally, and go through all the steps, paperwork, and years. That we don't put more road blocks in front of them, but actually help them in the system."
Anyone interested in the American Legion Post 29 citizenship program can get more information by contacting the post at (770) 427-5900.
