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Texas AFL-CIO Citizenship Clinic

The clinic shines a light on the path to citizenship

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The local division of the American Federation of Labor and other union groups pulled together resources to make a one-stop-shop for permanent residents wanting to become citizens.

The citizenship clinic was filled with dozens of people at a time, but that came as no surprise to Montserrat Garibay.

She is with the American Federation of Labor.

"In the whole state of Texas there is 1.1 million eligible permanent residents and here in Corpus there is about 8,000 permanent residents," Garibay said.

If those residents wanted to go one step further and become citizens they have to start out by submitting an application to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office.

"Then they get a letter where they get their fingerprints done," Garibay said. "Then they have to do an exam. Then they attend an oath ceremony to become a citizen." But it's not that cut an dry. The cost can slow the process down.

"For each application, it upwards of $700, and so many of the permanent residents here have to gather that money have to gather that paper work," Nancy Vera, president of the American Federation of Teachers said.

And getting the proper paper work can get complicated too, so the clinic provided professionals who could help free of charge.

"Consultation with the attorneys, consultation with the mexican consulate with some of the people who are helping fill out the applications," Vera said.

After everything is properly submitted the whole process could take up to two years, according to Vera.

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