Several cities across the U.S. are vowing to make one million immigrants into American citizens by the end of 2017.
The campaign comes from the Naturalize NOW initiative, whose home page describes the effort in saying, "The first step in participating in America's democracy is to become a U.S. citizen. Naturalize NOW embraces the diversity and innovation immigrants bring to the United States by assisting eligible legal residents through the naturalization process."
The organization aims to prevent the deportation of illegal immigrants under the Trump administration by granting several of them citizen status. According to FOX News Chicago the cities supporting the movement include: New York City (NY), San Fransisco (CA), Seattle (WA), Boston (MA), Chicago (IL), Dallas (TX), Jersey City (NJ), Los Angeles (CA), Miami (FL), Pittsburgh (PA) and Tuscon (AZ).
The Naturalize NOW homepage also shows users a 59-second message from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti promoting the citizenship effort. Garcetti has previously pledged his solidarity with the movement in his own city promising to fight the Trump administration and policies enacting tougher rules on immigration.
The backlash has come amidst the passing of two House immigration bills at the end of June. "Kate's Law" and the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act both exact harsher penalties for immigrants who re-enter the U.S. after being deported and incentivize local governments to cooperate with the federal immigration enforcement.
These new developments take place while the Trump administration is embroiled in a legal battle against lawyers representing many of these sanctuary cities. The clash over the travel bans and tougher immigration rhetoric is anything but over with, and as these cities strengthen their resolve against the administration were sure to see this issue remain at the forefront of the American conscioussness.
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