27 May 2008
Guide for New U.S. Immigrants Comes in 13 Languages
Government offers many resources to help new legal immigrants assimilate
Washington -- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its free publication Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants and added Polish and Urdu to the 11 other languages in which the booklet is available.
“This is a very welcoming book,” says Nathaniel Stiefel, a spokesman at the USCIS Office of Citizenship. “It provides all sorts of general settlement information, and I think it does a good job of explaining American civic values.”
The guide, which was introduced in 2005 and recently updated, also comes in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, Stiefel told America.gov.
“There are a lot of people who try to take advantage of immigrants, and what we want to do is get accurate materials into the hands of those who need them,” he added.
The United States receives 1 million legal permanent residents a year, Stiefel said, and roughly 750,000 people are naturalized as citizens each year.
The 114-page guide explains the rights and responsibilities of legal permanent residents -- “green card” holders -- and provides practical information about life in the United States. It introduces immigrants to the U.S. system of government and gives tips on such things as how to obtain a Social Security number or safe driving practices.
“In some countries a stop sign is more of a suggestion,” Stiefel said. “But here, if you see a stop sign, you stop. And why is that? It’s because we’re a country based on the rule of law.”
Before arriving in the United States, all successful immigrant visa recipients receive a brochure from the State Department in their native languages telling them how to obtain the new immigrants’ guide. The 13 language versions can be printed or downloaded from the USCIS Web site, and free printed copies in English, Spanish or Chinese are available to new permanent residents who call the USCIS Forms Line.
Printed guides in other languages are available from many libraries, community groups and educators who serve specific immigrant populations. In December 2007 in New York, USCIS introduced Arabic and Urdu printed versions of the guide, in partnership with several Islamic community organizations. In November 2007, it rolled out the Polish printed edition in Chicago.
The guide is available in many languages because “many immigrants don’t speak English when they come here, but you have to engage them in some way,” Stiefel said. “This book encourages them to go to adult education classes and look at opportunities to learn English.”
“One thing I think people take for granted in this country is that they think immigrants just assimilate,” Stiefel added. “There are now 8 million eligible for citizenship that have not applied. A lot of those folks probably haven’t applied because they don’t speak English very well. That’s usually the stumbling block.”
Starting in September, USCIS and the Department of Education will offer a free Web-based, English-language learning program, Stiefel said. USCIS will provide a link to the program on WelcometoUSA.gov, its special Web site for new immigrants launched in mid-2007. (See “New U.S. Web Site Helps Legal Immigrants Assimilate.”)
Also on the Web site is the new citizenship test -- both questions and answers -- that will be introduced this October. (See “Revised U.S. Naturalization Test To Focus on Civic Values, History.”)
The Office of Citizenship has many other tools to help immigrants successfully integrate into American life. One of the newest is a 10-minute digital video disc, A Promise of Freedom: An Introduction to U.S. History and Civics for Immigrants, which was produced in partnership with the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Currently in English, it soon will have Spanish-language captions, said Stiefel. There is also a 10-minute flash presentation on compact disc outlining the eligibility requirements and steps for becoming a citizen.
Alfonso Aguilar, chief of the Office of Citizenship, “takes these around to citizenship classes,” Stiefel said. “Last week, we were in Arkansas and we taught a class of 40 students, primarily Spanish speakers. We talked about the rule of law, inalienable rights, separation of powers. It’s fascinating that a lot of times it takes immigration to get us to talk about these things.”
The DVD and CD are part of the Civics and Citizenship Toolkit that USCIS distributes to libraries, churches, community groups and adult education classes. “If they have a program for immigrants -- English-language classes, citizenship classes -- we are making this available for free,” Stiefel said.
The most popular item in the toolkit is a set of flash cards with questions and answers about the American government for people studying for the citizenship test, he said. The kit also contains the Citizen’s Almanac, a collection of fundamental documents of American democracy. (See “Citizen’s Almanac Introduces New Americans to Nation’s Symbols.”)
Stiefel said that in 2006, President Bush created the Task Force on New Americans to coordinate government efforts to help immigrants learn English and integrate into American civic culture. This fall, the task force will issue recommendations on strengthening these efforts.
“Bush is really the first president to talk about assimilation since Woodrow Wilson,” Stiefel said.
The task force is headed by the Department of Homeland Security, USCIS’ parent agency. “We’ve met with businesses, libraries, foundations,” said Stiefel. “A movement like this is going to have to be a wholesale effort. It’s going to have to include all sectors of society.”
All language versions of Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants are available on the USCIS Web page Resources for New Immigrants. Also available on the USCIS Web site is information on the U.S. naturalization test.
Also see Diversity` and the eJournal Immigrants Joining the Mainstream.
