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Finding Hope in “DACA” – Interview with Jazmin
Creating belonging happens in so many ways in Sacramento.
Jazmin grew up believing she wouldn’t have the opportunity to graduate from college and start a full-time career. When she was a junior in high school, she met with the Immigration Legal Services team at World Relief Sacramento who helped her apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and walked alongside her through every part of the process.
We sat down with Jazmin and asked her a few questions about her experiences:
- Tell us about yourself and about your family.
I moved to California when she was 5 years old – my Dad came back to Mexico and picked me up from my grandparents’ house. Adjusting to the rhythm of school and learning a new language was incredibly difficult, and I grew up with a lot of stress because I didn’t think I would have the opportunity to go to college – it was a battle figuring out how I would be able to support my family.
But when I was a junior in high school, World Relief Sacramento was able to help me out. They filled out my DACA paper work and guided me through the entire process. Thanks to them, I attended and graduated Sacramento State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Construction Management and Engineering. My Dad was a construction worker, so I jumped into it with the best faith – I’ve now worked for company that I’m currently at for the past 5 years and have been able to help my family quite a bit.
This was all because of DACA; without that policy, I wouldn’t be able to have these same opportunities I do now.
- How did you meet the World Relief team?
My point of resource was the Mexican Console – they hosted workshops and World Relief Sacramento was one of the organizations that sponsored me. They gave me resources, sent my application, and paid fees – they walked alongside me through the entire DACA process. All I needed to do bring was myself, and they processed everything else and kept everything up to date. It would have been incredibly hard for me to do it by myself; I felt very secure with World Relief Sacramento handling everything.
- How has DACA helped you? And how has World Relief’s legal team helped you in securing your future?
Thanks to DACA I was able to go to college, I was able to work legally and start compiling 401K and savings and building credit, and ultimately, I was able to help my family. Right now, I am saving to buy a family home – immigrants buying property with a low-income background is impossible.
With World Relief Sacramento helping with the DACA process, it makes you feel like your case is always taken care of; I really appreciate them.
- What has been your overall experience as an immigrant in California?
I have a mixture of feelings. I think on the good side: it’s humbling. Just to know that you come from a different country and you’re trying to make it here. Because of DACA it’s not as limiting, without it it’s scary. I went through anxiety growing up without DACA because I couldn’t follow the traditional steps of going to college and would have to work illegally. It’s scary, it still is. It’s still all up in the air politically, but I’m trying to take care of the advantage.
- What changed in your day-to-day life after you were approved for DACA?
My routine – just going to school and finding a good job changed. My lifestyle and quality of life changed. I don’t feel like I was negatively impacted at all – without DACA, college would’ve cost three times as much – I graduated without debt and held a good job even before graduation. I never saw a dentist until started working full time – now I have so much better quality of life and insurance.
- What would you like people to know about the DACA process?
For the people applying for DACA, I’ve known a lot of people have had complications. I know DACA will eventually will expire – a lot of times you never know when the application is going to bounce back. Having resources like World Relief Sacramento ready and able to help is necessary – I always needed to be sure that this application is in good hands. It can be sensitive paperwork. DACA is important to have valuable resources.
For people who don’t know what DACA is, it’s not our fault that we’re in this situation (illegal), it’s needed for us to continue to live. And I know that DACA wasn’t given to everyone, which is unfortunate, but it’s special and appreciated. It’s a gift to a small portion of immigrants.
I hope that it shows people the benefits of giving immigrants legal status and I wish it was for everyone; I’m very grateful that I fall into the small group of immigrants given a chance. It’s proof that immigrants can give back to this country.
I consider it a success story for my parents; they brought their daughter not born here and gave her success being here. It truly is a success.
World Relief Sacramento’s Immigration Legal Services (ILS) team helps so many individuals like Jazmin fulfill their dreams and provide for their families. Consider becoming a monthly donor and help us continue creating belonging in Northern California – click here for more information.
What is “DACA” ?
by Anna Colby Staff Attorney, World Relief Sacramento
“DACA.”
The word gets thrown around in the news all the time, yet lately it has seemed to be used more as a political bartering tool than as a reminder of the real people immigration policies affect.
DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It is an immigration status program for people who were brought to the United States illegally as minors. Obtaining DACA status is not a permanent status for purposes of immigration in the country, but it has provided a way for Dreamers (DACA recipients or DACA-eligible individuals), most of whom have grown up for the majority of their lives in the U.S., to find protection from deportation and to get driver’s licenses, attend college, and obtain jobs. While Congress has repeatedly failed to pass a bill to provide a path to citizenship for Dreamers, studies show that about 75% of Americans support providing permanent legal status to DACA recipients.
Usually when the history of DACA gets discussed it is within the context of President Obama’s 2012 signing of the original executive order, but actually the first version of the Dream Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) was introduced in Congress in 2001. Since then at least 11 versions of the Dream Act have been introduced in Congress.
None of them have become law.
In the past few years you may have seen in the news other proposed Congressional acts for immigration reform and DACA recipients, the most recent being the Build Back Better Act. In a few of these proposed Acts, Congress has met opposition from some of its own members, but most significantly, from the Senate Parliamentarian, who can decide whether the inclusion of certain laws is appropriate in a proposed bill. In September 2021 the current Senate Parliamentarian ruled that the Senate could not include what was essentially a broad, new immigration policy in a spending bill.
This instance of Congressional failure to act is only one example of the uncertainty that Dreamers have faced in the last decade. When DACA was signed by President Obama, thousands of people came out of hiding and willingly gave the government personal identifying information with the hope and promise of being able to live normal lives as Americans. Now some DACA recipients are living in fear that their information may be used against them. Because DACA was signed as an Executive Order, and not as a Congressional act, it may be rescinded by another presidential administration. Since 2017 the DACA program has been litigated in the federal court system as different states contend its legality. Without firm Congressional action, nearly 600,000 current DACA recipients[TO1] will continue to face uncertainty.
So, how you can you help?
Here at World Relief we believe strongly that Dreamers should be put on a path to citizenship. In the last 3 ½ years the Immigration Services department at World Relief Sacramento has completed 571 DACA applications for clients, and we continue to help Dreamers find other means to regularize their status. If you know someone who needs our legal help please send them our way.
Congressional action remains the best answer to the legal difficulties Dreamers face. With as much bipartisan public support as there is for Dreamers, we believe that both political parties can work together to provide a path to citizenship for this important community. You can help by letting your Congressional representatives and senators know how you feel by emailing, calling, and petitioning them. Electoral voices are powerful!
Thank you for your continued support of our mission and your support of the Dreamer community.
Anna Colby is currently a staff attorney in World Relief Sacramento’s Immigration Legal Services Department. In her free time, Anna loves to hike, compose music, and do themed movie/food nights with friends.
David’s Journey to America
A Culture of Hospitality
“The most important thing to know about Afghans is, whenever a guest comes to our house, we’re happy for it. We say that guest is not only our guest, it’s God’s guest that came to our house,” ”David said.
He had just finished assisting the World Relief North Texas (WRNT) team with a cultural orientation for Afghans who had recently resettled in the area when he sat down to hear his story with us.
As an Afghan and newly arrived immigrant himself, his knowledge of both Afghan and American culture had quickly become a vital asset to the North Texas team in welcoming the influx of Afghan refugees they were receiving.
“I did work for the Americans for 19 years straight,” he said. “I know most of the cultures and how things work because if you work with someone from their country for 19 years, you get to hear a lot of stuff and you get to share your experience with them.”
The Day Life Changed
David, along with his wife and three children, was one of the 53,000 Afghans who were evacuated out of Kabul when it fell to the Taliban in August.
Growing up in Afghanistan, David’s father worked as a soldier for the Afghan special forces in Kandahar. Two of his brothers also worked for the coalition forces, and in 2002, shortly after the U.S. launched an attack against the Taliban, David began working with the U.S.
State Department as a translator.
He was at work the day the Taliban took Kabul. Life changed dramatically for him that day.
“I had friends in town,” David said. “They called me that day and said, ‘You heard Taliban is in the city? People are running left and right and they’re just scared and don’t know what’s going to happen after this.’”
When he got off the phone with his friend, he quickly went to his supervisor and informed them of what was happening. At first, no one believed him. They thought it was impossible for the Taliban to take over so quickly, and while David agreed that it seemed unbelievable, the truth soon became clear.
The Rush to Get Out
Over the next three days, David and his colleagues — Afghan and American alike — worked tirelessly to get rid of as much ammunition and military equipment as they could so as not to leave it in the hands of the Taliban. On the fourth day of his shift, though, David was told to go home, get his family and bring them back.
“They told me, ‘bring your kids, wife, that we need to evacuate you guys as soon as possible from Kabul,’” David said. “I asked them, ‘what about my other family? Like my mother or my brother?’
“They said, right now the only thing they could do is me and my wife and kids. They said they could get the rest of my family in the future, but right now, I needed to bring my wife and kids back to the base.”
David left work and made the drive back to his house. When he arrived, he and his wife packed everything they could into two bags.
“I had only three hours to prepare and we took all the necessary stuff that we needed from the house and made two bags and brought it with us,” he said.
When David and his family returned to the military base, they boarded the plane with 14 others and left Afghanistan. Though they were now physically safe, the life they knew had been left behind.
Journeying to the U.S.
Over the next few days, David and his family made an exhausting journey across the globe. They spent one night in Qatar before flying to Germany where they lived on a U.S. military base for seven days. David said that living conditions on the base were not great, but that he didn’t blame anyone for the poor conditions. How could he, when they never expected to have to house so many people with such short notice?
From Germany, David flew to D.C. where he and his family went through customs and border security before finally landing in El Paso, Texas where they would stay on another U.S. military base for 30 days.
The two bags they had packed, however, didn’t make it.
“When we got to Qatar, they took our bags,” David said. “They said the first priority was to get us out from here, and then it’s the bags… For 20 days, we had to wear the same clothes and after 20 days, we finally got to take a shower and change clothes. They took our bags and I still haven’t received them.”
While living conditions in El Paso were better than they were in Germany, life was still difficult. David and the other Afghans had to sleep in tents and wait in hours-long lines to get their food each day.
“I don’t blame them because in the camp where we were it was more than 10,000 people,” David said. “It’s not easy to give food to 10,000 people, three times a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner.”
Each morning, David and several other Afghans would meet with leaders at the U.S. military base hoping for some update as to when they would be released from the base and resettled in a new home.
“We were not hearing good news,” David said. “All we were hearing was that we would have to stay here for longer and longer.”
His young kids were becoming restless, often wishing they had stayed in Afghanistan, believing that life was better there. While David tried to comfort them, he too was becoming impatient with living in a tent on a military base.
Eventually, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Beginning Again
Prior to the fall of Kabul, a few of David’s friends and family had been resettled by World Relief North Texas. It was through those friends that David heard about World Relief.”
“I called [my friend] and said, ‘Please talk to Jonathan (WRNT Program Manager). If it’s possible to get out from this camp…I don’t want to wait. It’s taking too long.’”
David began making arrangements to leave the military base. He got copies of the necessary paperwork and medical records, booked plane tickets for his family, and left El Paso for Fort Worth. They spent their first night in Fort Worth at David’s cousin’s house, but the following day, Jonathan called David to say that an apartment was ready for them.
“He got the apartment ready in two days. It was amazing,” David said. “I couldn’t believe they helped us so much. They brought food, furnitures, beds for the kids, everything. Everything was in the house like a family living already.”
David said that walking into the house was like taking a deep breath. His children were thrilled and immediately began asking about when they could go to school.
Over the next few days, World Relief caseworkers helped get David’s kids enrolled in school. David’s wife purchased fabric and began sewing herself new dresses since their bags remained lost. David began volunteering with World Relief, acting as a translator and liaison with new Afghans as they arrive in North Texas.
“I told Jonathan the other day if he needs help as a culture-wise, I know more about Afghans, how to provide good relations, and help and stuff. I’m always ready to help them.”
While David and his family are working hard to settle into life in the U.S. — applying for social security, getting a drivers license and working with World Relief to get their SIV case approved — the toll of the last few months still weighs on them and the other Afghans in their community.
“What we are requesting from you guys to just please be patient…Most of our people have done or have been through a lot of difficulties in Afghanistan and have given a lot of sacrifices when the U.S. military was in Afghanistan. Most of the people lost their brothers, their father, their families in what was going on in Afghanistan.”
You Can Help
What’s more, many Afghans, including David, still have family in Afghanistan who are trying to get out. They wait urgently for an update, and we wait and pray with them.
As World Relief works alongside the U.S. government to continue resettling Afghans like David, you can help. You can:
Pray: Pray for David, his family and others like them as they build a new to life in the U.S. Pray also for the Afghan allies and civilians who are still seeking safety.
Advocate: Advocate and call on Congress to do everything in their power to evacuate as many as possible and resettle Afghan refugees.
Give: You can respond to urgent crises and promote peace and justice across the globe by giving to World Relief today.
Creating change and building communities of welcome isn’t easy, but it’s possible when we move together.
God tells us to welcome the stranger. It’s time to give immigrants a path to citizenship
Now a pastor in Boone, North Carolina, Aitken is grateful for his opportunity to become a permanent resident of the U.S. now. However, he recognizes that this is not the case for many immigrants. “In depriving many immigrants of clear pathways to citizenship, we rob immigrants of a chance to belong, and we prevent their communities from experiencing the transformative power of strangers becoming friends.”
The pastor also spoke on the need for this issue to be resolved and met with a Biblical motivation; that should and can involve “both Democratic and Republican U.S. senators and representatives.” Quoting Ephesians 2:19, Aitken also speaks into the Biblical implications of the importance of home and belonging.
To read more of Aitken’s passionate stance on immigration, and the call he believes Evangelical Christians have concerning the matter, see the following article linked.
María’s Story: Letter from a New U.S. Citizen
One of the most unique aspects of World Relief Chicagoland’s work serving immigrants and refugees is the diversity of people we get to meet. Each year, World Relief Chicagoland staff serve people who came to the United States from one of more than 100 different countries of origin. Together, they speak dozens of different languages.
Each brings a unique perspective, skills, and dreams for their life. For some, the dream is becoming a U.S. citizen.
Overcoming Barriers to Achieve Big Goals
However, these immigration neighbors also face unique barriers. Financial, cultural, language, and legal barriers keep them from experiencing legal justice. From reuniting with their families. From achieving their goals. Or from becoming U.S. citizens.
Because World Relief has been a trusted presence in Chicagoland for so long, it’s very common for those we serve to bring their friends and family back to World Relief offices when they need support.
Community members know that World Relief is a safe place where trusted staff and volunteers will help them reach their goals.
The Immigration Legal Services program staff are among these trusted staff. The immigration process can be confusing. Understanding the law and legal processes can be overwhelming. And navigating the legal system as an immigrant or refugee can be expensive and stressful. As experts in immigration law as well as the challenges faced by newcomers to the United States and the experiences of immigrants and refugees, World Relief’s Immigration Legal Services team builds relationships with people amid these stressful circumstances and becomes a vital source of information, counsel, and legal representation. They are problem solvers with people who have complex legal needs. They become trusted allies.
Meet María
María’s story shows how World Relief staff build relationships when providing legal representation. Like many others, María came to World Relief through a referral by a friend. She felt like she had tried everything, and yet was getting nowhere. She was exhausted by the complex and costly legal system. Then her friend recommended she visit World Relief.
Even though I did my citizenship process in the middle of the pandemic, this amazing team of lawyers did everything for me by Zoom – no contact – helping and guiding me through every step.
María, an immigration legal services client
Not only did María receive legal help with her immigration process once, and then twice, but she ended up referring other family members too! After completing her naturalization process to become a U.S. Citizen, María wrote this letter to express her thanks.
Read the Letter from a New U.S. Citizen
Hello! Greetings. My name is María. I was born in Venezuela. Because of the complicated and delicate social and political situation in my country, I decided to come to this country [the United States] nine years ago. I met my husband in 2015. When we decided to get married, we needed guidance. After calling various immigration lawyers, it was too much information [for us] to process. We felt at a loss.
A friend of mine recommended we call World Relief.
We made an appointment. We met with one of their dear lawyers, Emily, and she guided us through the whole process. Everything went quite fast, [with] never an obstacle or mistake. It was a flawless process.
This was the reason we decided, when it was time, to also apply for my citizenship with World Relief.
Even though I did my citizenship process in the middle of the pandemic, this amazing team of lawyers did everything for me by Zoom – no contact – always helping and guiding me through every step.
Again, no mistakes. They were always so careful and checked every document that we filled out, making sure that no errors were made. It was also quite faster than expected.
I received my interview date in just eight months although it was supposed to take a year or more. [World Relief] helped me check the process. I’m not very good with computers and technology, but they were always there to help, always answered all my questions by phone or email. They also guided me through all the possible scenarios for the citizenship interview. It all ran smoothly, I brought everything they told me and followed their instructions.
I’m a very happy and proud citizen now, and I am sure I would not have been able to do this without World Relief. I am very thankful for all their guidance and help.
I pray you can continue helping others as you helped me. Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
María
Helping Our Immigrant Neighbors Thrive
World Relief Chicagoland walks with people like María to serve immigrant community members on the path to stable immigration status, giving them the security and peace-of-mind they need to flourish in the U.S.
Do you or someone you know need immigration legal services? Are you interested in providing more people like María with trusted legal guides to navigate their immigration process? You can help new Americans reunite with their family, become citizens, gain work authorization, and achieve protection from violence.
Learn more about World Relief Chicagoland’s Immigration Legal Services program.
Read more like this:
Welcome Afghans Event
Toba’s idea was simple: give hot meals to Afghan families. “They say the smallest act of kindness can make the biggest difference.”
Toba Adina, an Afghan refugee and World Relief Sacramento volunteer, felt compelled to help Afghan families build relationships with Sacramento neighbors. So, she decided to plan a Welcome Afghans event with the help of local organizations and Afghan businesses.
World Relief Sacramento partnered with River City Christian, Capital Community Athletics, Zainab at Fresh Mediterranean, Ariana Afghan Market, DJ Ahmed, Loomis Basin Charter School, and CalFire to provide free local Afghan meals (halal) and activities for new friends to enjoy together. Teens and adults of all ages and cultures played volleyball and soccer in the park, and a bounce house was set up for youth. CalFire also brought firetrucks and spoke to families about work in their communities.
Here we are today: an example of community, support, teamwork, kindness and passion to serve and help others,” Toba said. The Welcome Afghans event was more than just the hot meals Toba planned – Afghan and Sacramento families began building the foundation for lifelong friendships.
Here are four ways you can help Afghan families arriving to the United States:
Host Homes: Become a temporary host home for newly arrived families waiting to transition to more permanent housing. Apply >>
Economic Empowerment Kits: Give items that will support refugees to be successful in finding employment. Our Amazon wish list >>
Groceries: We’ve created a shopping list with the best options. This list follows religious guidelines to ensure there is culturally appropriate food for newly arrived refugee families. Download the grocery list >>
Giving: America is a place of welcome and that we are a people of welcome. When you give today, you join us in bringing hope, healing and restoration right here in Sacramento. Give >>
Leading and Inspiring Change: Celebrating Evelyn Mangham
A Celebration of Life
Every once in a while you meet a person who truly inspires you. Evelyn Mangham, who, along with her late husband Grady Mangham, began World Relief’s refugee resettlement program in the 1970s, was one of those people. She passed away October 5, 2021 at the age of 98, and today we mourn the loss and celebrate her life and ministry.
Born in 1922, Evelyn spent the early years of her life living in what is now known as Syria and Jordan as the daughter of missionaries. After marrying Grady Mangham, she moved to Vietnam, where the couple lived and ministered from 1947 to 1967 as Christian & Missionary Alliance missionaries.
Together, they taught Bible school and supported church planting and discipleship among the Montagnard people. They returned to Nyack, New York in 1967, where they worked from the Alliance’s headquarters. Evelyn, though, said that she felt stuck at that time— missing the people she had befriended in Vietnam and the life to which she had become accustomed.
Soon, the political situation in Vietnam deteriorated. Six Alliance missionaries were killed in 1968 as the Tet Offensive began. In 1975, when Saigon fell and the flow of refugees increased dramatically, Evelyn and Grady began receiving urgent pleas from people whom they had known in Vietnam, who had now been forced to flee as refugees. “We had to do something,” Evelyn told me when I interviewed her in 2016.
Seeing People as People
The couple tirelessly worked to advocate for refugees to be welcomed to the U.S., knocking on the doors of both the U.S. government and the various churches that had supported them as overseas missionaries.
Evelyn would often work from the hallway of the Alliance denominational offices in Nyack, calling up local churches, pleading with them to take in a refugee family. While some pastors were hesitant, many were eager to welcome refugees into their communities.
Evelyn recalls one pastor who initially declined to help, saying his church was busy working on a parking lot project. Evelyn responded, “But these are people!”
More often than not, however, local churches stepped up to the challenge, meeting newly arrived families at the airport, welcoming them into their homes on a temporary basis, and eventually helping them to find permanent housing, jobs, and everything else necessary to restart their lives in a new culture.
In a single year, Alliance churches welcomed more than 10,000 refugees who had fled Vietnam and from conflicts in neighboring Laos and Cambodia.
As refugees from Southeast Asia continued to arrive, Grady and Evelyn ran out of Alliance congregations to call upon. Evelyn was undeterred. She began cold-calling pastors from the directory of the National Association of Evangelicals, expanding her outreach to Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Wesleyans, and others. When she encountered resistance—understandable in the political context, given that most Americans disapproved of the effort to resettle Vietnamese refugees at the time — Evelyn would remind them of the repeated injunctions in Scripture to care for vulnerable “strangers.
Partnering With World Relief
In 1979, this effort that had initially been coordinated by the Christian & Missionary Alliance’s CAMA Services and then through Lutheran World Relief was brought under the auspices of World Relief — the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Up until then, World Relief had been focused on empowering churches to care for vulnerable and displaced people overseas., But under the leadership of Grady and Evelyn Mangham, began its U.S. refugee resettlement program.
Grady Mangham continued to lead World Relief’s refugee resettlement program until 1987, resettling an average of 6,300 refugees annually from countries all around the world. Since then, several of Grady and Evelyn’s children and grandchildren have served World Relief in various capacities.
The refugee resettlement program that Evelyn helped to found has now resettled roughly 300,000 refugees to communities throughout the United States.
In the coming months, World Relief anticipates receiving between 7,000 and 10,000 individuals who have recently fled Afghanistan in an evacuation with many historical parallels to the refugee crisis in Vietnam that sparked Evelyn and Grady Mangham’s ministry. The local church remains central to our mission, just as it was when Evelyn and Grady founded the program.
The World Relief family throughout the globe grieves Evelyn’s death — but not without hope, confident in the resurrection through Christ that was Evelyn’s greatest hope. And we celebrate the incredible legacy of Evelyn and Grady’s life and ministry.
Even into her last years of life, living in Florida, Evelyn always would greet refugees from the Middle East with a smile, singing with them the Arabic songs she remembered from her childhood.
As refugee resettlement has become increasingly controversial in recent years, including within evangelical churches, Evelyn was asked how she would advise Christians who felt reluctant to engage in refugee ministry:
Well, respond to what Jesus said, that’s all: “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger” — refugee — “and you took me in… Inasmuch as you did unto of the least of these my brethren, you did unto me.” It’s simple obedience.
*elements of this reflection were drawn from a 2016 article written by Matthew Soerens for Christianity Today.
Matthew Soerens is the US Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief, where he helps evangelical churches to understand the realities of refugees and immigration and to respond in ways guided by biblical values. He also serves as the National Coordinator for the Evangelical Immigration Table, a coalition that advocates for immigration reforms consistent with biblical values.
I helped U.S. troops in Afghanistan. I’m safe now, but I worry for friends I left behind.
Program participant Seeta Habib and her family were resettled through World Relief Memphis in October 2020 through the special immigrant visa program. She and her husband had served as interpreters and journalists for U.S. forces in their home country, and they were consequently targeted by the Taliban. This is her story.
When the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 1996, millions of Afghan girls were shut out of school. I was one of them.
It wasn’t until the eventual defeat of the Taliban government in 2001, when I was 13 years old, that I entered a school for the first time in five years.
It was one of the happiest days of my life, but it was still a dangerous time to be a girl in Afghanistan, seeking an education. I learned English secretly, in a private class outside of school, and when I graduated, I knew I wanted to be a part of Afghanistan’s reconstruction. I became a print journalist for a magazine operated by NATO’s security mission in Afghanistan, the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Farah, in the western part of Afghanistan. There, I covered ISAF activities having a positive impact in the community.
Citizenship Game Show
At World Relief, we like to say that the immigration system is like navigating a maze that is also a minefield. There are lots and lots of ways that you can go wrong and irreparably damage your chances to reach your goal of becoming a permanent resident or Citizen of the United States.
One aspect of the immigration process is the citizenship test.
Staff from World Relief Chicagoland gathered together virtually to test their knowledge. See how it went!
What is the Citizenship Test?
The U.S. citizenship test, which tests an applicant’s knowledge of U.S. history and government, is given orally during the U.S. citizenship interview.
The citizenship test consists of 100 questions. However, during the interview, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officer will ask the applicant only 10 of the 100 questions, and the applicant must answer 6 out the 10 questions correctly in order to pass the civics test.
And, even though you can take the citizenship test twice before you are no longer eligible to become a citizen, it remains one of the more challenging components of the process.
Test your U.S. Civic Knowledge
Interested to see how difficult the test might be and if you would pass on your first or second try? Download the 100 questions and study them. When you feel ready to try take the quiz here.
As you’re studying and preparing to take the quiz remember many immigrants who are taking this test are doing so in a second, third or even fourth language and the test is being administered orally. For many, this will be in our native language as well as taken by “pen and paper.”
8 Things You Should Know About Refugees
Can a single eBook help you fully understand the current refugee crisis? No, but we’re hoping it can do one thing—help you get to know refugees.
If you’ve seen the stories of refugees in the news and wanted to help them feel loved and supported, but haven’t known where to start…
This eBook is for you.
Click here to receive your free copy of “8 Things You Should Know About Refugees.”