Immigrant Solidarity Team

Sally Parsons and I were talking recently about her efforts to help register new citizens to vote.  Since October she has worked to help register over 100 newly naturalized citizens.  She has done this with several other volunteers working with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR).  I asked Sally to describe the event.

Curious, I sat in on the oath ceremony. Those to be administered the oath sat on one side of the room, with their families and friends on the other. The ceremony started with a video of panoramic views of the American landscape and a sound track of “I’m Proud to Be an American.” After messages from the president and other officials, a clerk called the role of countries and asked each person from that country to stand and remain standing until all were on their feet.

As they took the Pledge of Allegiance, I slipped out to join my ICIRR colleagues who were readying the motor voter forms for the surge of families about to emerge with their citizenship certificates. We had been instructed to greet them all with a smile.

Rosa, the volunteer coordinator from ICIRR, was very organized and in control of her crew.  The volunteers, besides me, were Ian (newly citizenized himself), a young free-lance pastry chef from the Philippines and named after Ian Fleming; Bruce, an older gentleman who’s been doing this task for many years; and Debbie, a woman in her 30s who just started volunteering.

The doors soon flung open and the new citizens poured out. Rosa yelled, “Illinois to the right.” Most people dutifully turned as instructed. We handed them each an Illinois voter registration form and a pen. “Just fill out the highlighted lines. Any questions, come to me.”

It was all over in an hour. We all agreed this is an uplifting volunteer effort, assisting immigrants and refugees become U.S. citizens. It is also the one volunteer activity ICIRR conducts for which there is the greatest demand.  Oath ceremonies are conducted most days of each week, at two different locations.

If interested in volunteering, contact Luisa Sosa at lsosa@icirr.org. You will be contacted in a few weeks.

From Joe Romeo