ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Citizenship is a hot topic in many circles, and a local class aims to help with just that.
Seward County Community College will again be hosting citizenship classes for the fall semester. The daytime class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 2:15 p.m. and will run from Sept. 9 through Nov. 18 (though there will be no class Oct. 14), for a total of 20 sessions. The evening class will meet Mondays from 6 to 8 p.m., and that will run from Sept. 8 though Dec. 1 (though there will be no class Oct. 13) for a total of 12 sessions. Classes for both of those sessions will be at the SCCC tech campus in Room T151, Sign-ups can be done in the SCCC Business & Industry Office on the SCCC tech campus, and people can call that office at (620) 417-1170 to get things started and register for the class, which is $130 per person for the whole semester. And for the first time, people can also sign up online, and a QR code is also available on the class flyer. The class will help students prepare to get their citizenship, and will feature U.S. history, U.S. government, the U.S. Constitution and other basic information they'll need to know about the U.S. to help the students pass their tests. Participants will also get some help on what to look for on the application and completing all of that paperwork and will also be guided through the USCIS interview process and how to prepare for that.
Instructor Kathleen Alonso said she is looking forward to seeing how many people participate in the class.
“I'm excited every semester because every class is fun and unique. I also love learning along with my students – this is my third or fourth year teaching, and I've learned something new and made improvements with every session because every student learns differently,” Alonso said. “A lot of people don’t know to become a citizen, you have to be a permanent resident for five years, or three years if you're married to a U.S. citizen, and you also have to have good moral character and not have an extensive criminal history or any of that. If anyone has any questions about if they're eligible for citizenship, I would be more than happy to refer them to someone who would know better, because it's on a case-by-case basis. Overall, I'm really excited to teach these people what their resources are and how to use them so they can pursue their citizenship dream.”
With changes being made to the process, Alonso offered encouragement for participation in the class.
“Unfortunately, the process is becoming more challenging and difficult. The test currently has 100 civic questions, but the Trump Administration recently announced they will be reverting back to a test with 120 questions from his first term. With the current 100-question test, a client will be asked 10 of those questions and have to answer a minimum six of those correctly, whereas with the 120-question test, a client will be asked 20 questions and have to answer a minimum of 12 of those correctly,” Alonso said. “The proposed changes are pretty extensive, and it was also announced there will be neighborhood checks done, which means with certain cases, immigration officials will interview neighbors, co-workers and others in a client's circle to make sure they have good moral character. I encourage people to go ahead and start the process now, and if they're able to fill out the N-400 application for naturalization, they can be grandfathered into the 100-question test. As a U.S. citizen, you have more privileges and more opportunities and more guarantees of non-deportation. Even if you're a permanent resident, there's still that risk of deportation and having your visa revoked, but if you're a citizen, that's much less likely to happen, so we want everyone to have that extra layer of security. Also, only 25 people are allowed per class, and the classes can fill up pretty quickly – we actually almost reached that limit last year, and we got some good response to the daytime class being available. If you want a guaranteed spot, register now so you can be sure and get in for this semester.”
Alonso added she always works to make each class different.
“I enjoy seeing the generational differences with my students – I've had senior citizens in my class and young parents with young families and everything in between, so it's always a very diverse group and it's amazing to see those dynamics,” Alonso said. “And while the majority of the students I teach are from Mexico, I have also had students from other parts of Central America and South America as well as Ukraine and Haiti and some other places, so it's amazing being able to learn about those other cultures while I'm teaching them. I always try to bring up different stories and examples of how others have gone through the immigration process, and I also talk a lot about how to get involved locally. With either my first or second class, we were able to do a community project to put up some extra lighting at McCray Park – that project did take a few years, but it did come to fruition, and it was amazing to show them there's so much they can do when they officially become citizens and how they can make their community better.”
Overall, Alonso said, she is excited for her next group of students.
“I hope to see a full class, I love seeing that because it tells me the need is there. I would also love to see an improvement in retention, and since there are fewer sessions this time around, I feel like that will help people be able to commit,” Alonso said.
