On May 8, Houston immigration leaders and Houston ethnic media leaders gathered for a briefing entitled, “A Safe Path to Citizenship: The Time is Now! (Photo Credit: Ethnic Media Services)
Since the second inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, many migrants have lived in fear.
Even those who have an opportunity to become a citizen have felt apprehension after law enforcement officials have apprehended legal migrants because of their political rhetoric.
Therefore, Houston immigration activists are starting to alert local ethnic media leaders to inform the public about their rights and how to become naturalized American citizens.
KaNeesha Allen, the community collaboration lead at Dalberg Design, said, “Naturalization leads to broader community benefits—civic engagement, workforce participation and income stability.”
Allen said that in the summer of 2023, approximately 360,000 adults in the Greater Houston area were eligible for naturalization.
The eligible residents came from the top four countries: Mexico, India, Vietnam and China.
Several barriers, like the cost and English requirements of the citizenship test, make residents cautious about the naturalization process.
The citizenship application costs $760.
Zenobia Lai of the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative said that her organization’s “Give Citizenship a Boost” campaign helps offset some of those costs.
Furthermore, Angie Dupree, citizenship coordinator with National Partnership for New Americans, said that if people have lived in America for a long time, they are exempt from the English portion of the citizenship test.
Additionally, agencies exist that will help residents gain their citizenship at no cost.
Austra Zapata, naturalization program manager for Harris County, Texas, said, “From January to March 2025, we’ve screened over 2,000 people and legally represented 1,400 applicants—all at no cost.”
Zapata knows firsthand how difficult it is to become a United States citizen because she became a citizen at 15 years old after migrating from Honduras.
She said, “Citizenship is not easy—it’s the trophy at the end of a very long and complicated journey.”
Zapata added, “Despite the national immigration climate, Harris County is seeing a positive trend—more residents are applying.”
However, Lai stated that residents seeking citizenship must obtain legal counsel before applying.
She said, “Under this administration, a denial isn’t just a no—it could lead to deportation. Legal review is essential.”
Lai emphasized the importance of organizations working together to educate and empower Houston’s migrant community.
She added, “We call it an ecosystem of serving organizations in the Houston area—half of them are service providers, and also law school immigration technical programs. The others are partners who provide social services, healthcare, advocacy, and organizing for immigrants in Greater Houston.”
Although President Trump made illegal immigration and mass deportations a hallmark of his 2024 campaign, many migrants who came to the country legally have seen their status in danger because of their political beliefs and rhetoric, especially when it comes to the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Caroline Linton and Lilia Luciano of CBS News reported, “Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian Columbia student who had been detained by immigration authorities when he went to his U.S. citizenship interview, has been released after a federal judge’s order in Vermont…
“Mahdawi, who has a green card, was taken into custody on April 16. His immigration case remains open…
“Mahdawi’s attorneys argued that the Trump administration is seeking to deport Mahdawi because he helped lead pro-Palestinian protests on Columbia University’s campus in the early months of the Israel-Hamas war, in violation of his First Amendment rights.”
Trump’s administration has said the universities have not done enough to stop antisemitism on their campuses.
Many say pro-Palestinian protestors have threatened Jewish students with violence.
Countless Jewish college students have said that they have not felt safe on their campuses since the beginning of the conflict.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford said that Mahdawi had “made substantial claims that his detention is the result of retaliation for protected speech.”
CBS News reported, “Crawford said that this is not the first time the U.S. has seen chilling efforts by the government that are ‘intended to shut down debate,’ comparing it to the Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s. He said those were times when immigration laws were used to curb speech.”
Dedre Smith, executive director of Literacy Council of Fort Bend County, Texas, said that some of the young people whom she works with have become nervous about Trump’s immigration crackdown.
As a result, her organization has begun to assist residents online as opposed to in-person counseling because of that fear.
Many critics of Trump’s deportation agenda have called the 45th and 47th President of the United States a hypocrite for seemingly targeting migrants of color for expulsion while welcoming White South Africans with open arms and offering them a quick path to American citizenship.
Trump believes that White South Africans are facing persecution from the Black South African majority.
However, many migrants of color from the Caribbean and Latin America say that they came to America to avoid violence and persecution, too.
For generations, White South Africans brutally oppressed the country’s Black minority via apartheid or racial segregation.
White South Africans stole land from the native Black South Africans and jailed and killed people who spoke out against their racist caste system.
South Africa’s Black leadership has sought ways to rectify the wrongs committed by White South Africans, yet individuals like Trump label that as oppression of White people.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called the 59 White South Africans “cowards” for running away, saying that “they’ll be back soon.”
Ramaphosa said, “As South Africans, we are resilient. We don’t run away from our problems. We must stay here and solve our problems. When you run away, you are a coward, and that’s a real cowardly act.”
Likewise, many of Houston’s immigration activists hope that migrants do not run away from a difficult citizenship process and stay the course with their assistance.
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