National and local leaders in Central Florida are teaming up together to help eligible Florida residents navigate the U.S. naturalization process to become U.S. citizens.
Mi Familia en Acción, the Farmworkers Association and local leaders at the Mexican Consulate in Orlando hosted an information session on the naturalization process Wednesday, which happened to be the National Day of Citizenship. Mi Familia en Acción is a national civic engagement organization.
Following the information session, those registered will receive help with the application process from attorneys at no cost.
The organization's Florida State Director Soraya Marquez said the program includes information sessions on naturalization ahead of the organization, local leaders and civil servants helping with the application process.
Marquez said she noticed a need for these services in her community during the 2012 elections. By 2014, she found there were around 700,000 people in Florida who were eligible for citizenship.
“In 2024, close to nine million people are eligible to become citizens nationwide,” Marquez said. “In 2024, 1.2 million submitted the request for citizenship. Only 818,000 became a citizen. Only 35% Latinos. That means that you have a gap.”
Since 2014, Mi Familia en Acción in Florida has registered over 2,000 people to participate in the program. Marquez said she encourages anyone who is eligible to not be afraid of the process. For example, she said she helped one woman who was 89-years-old become a citizen.
“When someone talks to me, ‘Oh, I'm scared of it,’” Marquez said. “Let me tell you something. That lady, 89-years-old, she passed. You can do it.”
Immigration attorney Ingrid Morfa said she’s been helping people become citizens for over a decade. She says that attorneys like herself have the ability to help in a big way when it comes to programs like this one.
“We have the knowledge, we have the resources and we should help those that need to be helped. I think I'm morally bound to do it. Not everyone feels the same, but as long as I can do it, I'll continue doing it.
Morfa said it was her parents, who were both immigrants, that inspired her to pursue a career in immigration law.
“Every vote counts, and we can see that today more than ever,” Morfa said. “Citizenship, it's something that us native born sometimes take for granted and we need not take it for granted anymore. We need to help those that can become citizens become citizens.”
Aside from taking a long time, the naturalization process can be expensive. Morfa said by providing these resources at no cost, it opens the door for more people in the community who are eligible to become citizens.
“An application for citizenship is $710. Attorney fees can go anywhere from $1000 to $5,000, so it's a significant savings,” Morfa said of the free service. “With this process, people won't have to worry about whether or not to feed their kids as well because they want to become a citizen. Citizenship is so important to immigrants because that's the only way for them to be heard.”
