Marketing citizenship... Push on to turn green cards into citizenship
Article subtitle:
"...There are at least 8 million people not participating because they don't have the right to vote"
Article publisher:
Orange County Register
Article date:
5 July 2013
Article category:
National News
Medium
Article Body:
Guadalupe Prado used to celebrate the Fourth of July as this country's Independence Day: carne asada and hot dogs on the grill, the grandkids playing outside, neighbors and fireworks.
But now, the day holds new meaning: "It's the Independence Day of the country where I live and that adopted me" ...
Locally and across the nation, people like Prado are targeted by a network of organizations that want to move this country's legal permanent residents – who are eligible to become residents now, without further congressional action – into the ranks of citizens ...
"They could become citizens tomorrow if they want to," said Marc Fest, a Miami-based communications consultant for the New Americans Campaign ...
"Tony Lu, CitizenshipWorks website project coordinator in New York, said: 'If we value a vibrant democracy that has a lot of engagement and debate on social issues and policy, there are at least 8 million people not participating because they don't have the right to vote. We should all be welcoming them. Otherwise we're not getting everyone's voice in the debate.' "