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Podcasts Take Two
New campaign hopes to help permanent residents become citizens
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Jul 9, 2013
Listen • 4:39
New campaign hopes to help permanent residents become citizens
There are 8.5 million people with green cards in the U.S. These legal permanent residents are just one step away from becoming American citizens, and yet only one out of 10 actually follow through on that process.
Born in Bulgaria, Stephanie Marinova (R), 7, sits with her adopted mother Beatrice Tolidjian of Annandale, VA, during the children's citizenship ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office November 14, 2011 in Fairfax, Virginia. In celebration of National Adoption Month, 25 children representing nine countries, including Bulgaria, China, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Korea, Liberia, Russia, Taiwan and Vietnam, celebrated their U.S. citizenship during the ceremony.
Born in Bulgaria, Stephanie Marinova (R), 7, sits with her adopted mother Beatrice Tolidjian of Annandale, VA, during the children's citizenship ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office November 14, 2011 in Fairfax, Virginia. In celebration of National Adoption Month, 25 children representing nine countries, including Bulgaria, China, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Korea, Liberia, Russia, Taiwan and Vietnam, celebrated their U.S. citizenship during the ceremony.
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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There are 8.5 million people with green cards in the U.S. These legal permanent residents are just one step away from becoming American citizens, and yet only one out of 10 actually follow through on that process.

There are 8.5 million people with green cards in the U.S. These legal permanent residents are just one step away from becoming American citizens, and yet only one out of 10 actually follow through on that process.

But a national effort called the New Americans Campaign is underway to get people to take that next step. 

Joining us is an organizer behind the local effort, Elisa Sequiers, the state director of civic engagement at NALEO Educational Fund.