Washington, DC - The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) was selected for a coveted national award from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to strengthen citizenship programs serving Legal Permanent Residents in four cities in the United States.

CLINIC's award is one of only three national grants under the USCIS Citizenship and Integration grant program that funds organizations around the country to offer legal and educational citizenship services in communities that currently lack or have limited resources. CLINIC, a network of more than 200 nonprofit legal immigration programs, will partner with Catholic Charities programs in Indianapolis, IN; Los Angeles, CA; Syracuse, NY; Worcester, MA to offer citizenship instruction to prepare Legal Permanent Residents for naturalization.

"CLINIC is honored to once again be a USCIS national citizenship grant recipient," says Maria M. Odom, executive director. "In partnership with our network, CLINIC supports naturalization and immigrant integration initiatives that help thousands of permanent residents each year to complete that final step in their long migration journey by accepting all rights, responsibilities and freedoms that only U.S. citizenship bestows."

CLINIC will work with the programs to develop English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) citizenship classes and civic education programs and to promote naturalization and immigrant integration. CLINIC will provide its expert guidance and technical assistance to create and strengthen immigration legal services programs that will expand the availability of naturalization services.

In addition to CLINIC's national award, five of its network members were selected to provide locally-based citizenship preparation programs. These include Catholic Charities of Dallas, Inc., Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, Inc., Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth, Inc., Catholic Charities of Orange County, Inc., and Catholic Social Services of Fall River, MA.