The Open Borders National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) this week awarded five more grants to cities and counties that have agreed to join their partner Cities for Citizenship (C4C) “America is Home” Initiative in the run-up to the 2020 presidential race.
According to their website, C4C “is a four-year, $5 million challenge grant program to help municipalities and community partners encourage U.S. citizenship among eligible immigrants and increase naturalization application rates.”
This past week the organization, headed by long-time Illinois social justice advocate Joshua Hoyt, identified five more cities to benefit from their funding: Milwaukee, WI, Tulsa, OK, Salt Lake City, UT, Birmingham, AL and York, PA.
WISN-Radio Milwaukee reported that the grant is “to help immigrants with legal costs, test prep, and other potential barriers to citizenship.”
What those cities and counties, which have joined with NPNA/C4C, have in common is that each has a large population of immigrants eligible to become citizens and vote, but who have not gone through the citizenship process. NPNA wants to change that.
The C4C Initiative says it will:
Provide two-year challenge grants of $25,000 and $40,000 annually
Encourage partnerships of Mayors and Municipalities with community-based organizations (and / or labor organizations)
Encourage local funding to match the challenge grants, and long-term sustainability
Build the “learning community” of Cities for Citizenship (C4C)
Provide scholarships to grantees to attend the a C4C Municipal Gathering at NPNA’s National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC) in December 2018
More….
The 2018 NPNA National Immigrant Integration Conference opens Sunday in Virginia with a focus on the role of progressive women in the Open Borders movement.
Female headliners include Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Planned Parenthood CEO Dr. Leana Wen, and Muslim rights activist Linda Sarsour.
Understanding that studies demonstrate that immigrants vote for Democrats, the leading state pro-immigration and refugee rights groups came together under Hoyt’s (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights) leadership to form NPNA in 2010.
The new organization received its tax exempt status in 2012 during Obama’s tenure and during the same time period that the IRS was not granting favored tax status to Tea Party groups.
NPNA trustees (listed on a recent IRS Form 990) include big names in the US Open Borders movement including Gustavo Torres (Casa de Maryland), Eva Millona (Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition), and Stephanie Teatro (Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition).
Funding for grants to cities was initially contributed by corporate partner Citi Community Development, a program of the financial giant Citigroup.
Chaired by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, NPNA says C4C includes a growing network of cities.
Nearly 70 cities are aligned with C4C
Seeking to increase their immigrant voter base, 27 cities and counties located in battleground states are among the nearly 70 affiliated with C4C and NPNA. They include the following:
Arizona: Phoenix and Tucson
Colorado: Denver
Florida: Miami, Miami-Dade County, and North Miami
Indiana: Indianapolis
Ohio: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Lucas County
Michigan: Detroit and Hamtramck
Minnesota: Minneapolis, St. Paul and Worthington
New Mexico: Albuquerque and Santa Fe
North Carolina: Charlotte and Highpoint
Pennsylvania: Erie, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Reading and York
Wisconsin: Madison and Milwaukee
Cities in three states (Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas) considered to be “firmly red” states are on the list as well.
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Anna Marie Bolton is a reporter for Battleground State News.
