President Donald Trump has made stopping immigration, both legal and illegal, a top priority during his second term in the White House.
The need for some migrants to become naturalized citizens has, arguably, never been greater.
When President Donald Trump campaigned for the Oval Office in 2024, he vowed to deport undocumented criminals.
Many naturalized citizens saw little wrong in that effort, thus casting their ballots for President Trump.
However, many people from migrant communities have now said that they regret that decision because Trump’s immigration policies have not just targeted violent criminals.
Trump’s administration has also targeted undocumented migrants without a criminal record, as well as those who migrated to America legally under previous presidential administrations.
As a result, many organizations that assist migrants in becoming United States citizens have ramped up their efforts to educate immigrants on their rights and what they need to do to become naturalized Americans.
Leaders from such Houston organizations spoke with members of the Houston Community Media collective on Sept. 17 to update them on the naturalization process and what consumers of their media outlets need to know to get those coveted citizenship documents.
Angie DuPree, citizenship coordinator for National Partnership for New Americans, said that it is the goal of her organization to get Houston recognized as the citizenship capital of the world.
DuPree said that the National Partnership for New Americans is engaging with approximately 118,000 people in the Greater Houston area to educate them on their rights and what is needed if they desire American citizenship.
She added that Houston is home to 1.7 million immigrants, and 700,000 are naturalized.
In the second quarter of 2025, 10,000 people in the Houston area applied for United States citizenship.
Furthermore, since September 2023, Houston has had the highest or second-highest number of applicants in the country every quarter.
Houston’s numbers decreased in July 2024 due to Hurricane Beryl.
The Greater Houston area is renowned for its ethnic diversity and the diverse range of languages spoken by Houstonians.
But now it seems that diversity, especially when it comes to migrants, is under attack as many people have seen their legal status stripped during the new Trump presidency.
Now, to become a citizen, the current White House wants applicants to be seen as good people.
Many critics of Trump’s immigration policies believe too much of it is subjective and left open to interpretation, which puts those with temporary protective status (TPS) in danger of deportation or prevents them from becoming United States citizens.
Attorney Zenobia Lai, executive director for the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative, said that 1.4 million people have temporary protective status in America.
However, she believes that the Trump administration is stripping those benefits every day.
The current White House is requiring that applicants for American citizenship show good moral character.
The Trump administration wants applicants to display good American values.
However, American values, to some people, might not be American values to others.
Trump’s Democratic counterparts have complained that Trump might see dissent as an un-American value.
The White House is asking the neighbors of migrants to report anything concerning that they see from those attempting to become United States citizens.
Many migrants to America are people of color, either from Latin America, Asia or Africa.
Therefore, what is to stop a conservative White American from reporting normal behavior to the government and calling it un-American?
Many African-Americans have had the police called on them for simple things like watching birds or jogging in their own neighborhood.
Therefore, it is not out of the question for some Americans to misuse or abuse Trump’s directive.
After the assassination of conservative activist and podcast host Charlie Kirk while speaking at Utah Valley University, Vice President J.D. Vance urged Americans to report any American who criticizes Kirk and his views.
Many African-Americans viewed Kirk’s rhetoric as racist and that of a White supremacist.
Would criticizing racism be un-American to the Trump administration?
As a result of the unknown, Lai encourages all migrants to stay off social media so that their own words will not be used against them during the naturalization process.
Although character will have an impact on whether a migrant becomes a documented citizen, mental health issues will not be used against those prospective Americans.
Furthermore, many advocates believe that the current administration has made the citizenship test more difficult.
The test now consists of 128 questions.
Lai also criticized many conservatives who argue that undocumented immigrants should get in the back of the immigration line and wait their turn to enter the country and/or become citizens.
Her issue with that is that there is no line to become a United States citizen.
Therefore, undocumented immigrants have no line to get into.
Ashley Borgin, adult education director at Literacy Council of Fort Bend County in the Greater Houston area, calls migrants and their advocates a village, which consists of migrants, public speakers and advocates, journalists and other community leaders.
Borgin wants all migrants in the Greater Houston area to know that they can receive information about naturalization or other concerns by calling 311.
Another concern that many migrants have is how much they should assimilate into American culture, and how many of the customs of their homeland they should retain, while seeking American citizenship and thereafter.
Community leaders like Salemu Alimasi, executive director for CO_Afro Community Center, help African migrants ease into an American way of life, while also remaining true to where they came from.
But the bigger question might be where America is going, and whether it will remain true to its origins?
The country blossomed into a superpower by being a land of immigrants.
Will that continue during the current presidential regime?
- Movie Review: ‘731’ Another Film That is a Warning - September 26, 2025
