As part of the new PICO Bay Area Citizenship and Civic Engagement campaign, Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA) held a "Citizenship Day" on February 23. More than 100 people seeking assistance with citizenship applications and other immigration-related matters attended the free workshop held at El Buen Pastor Church in Redwood City. In preparation for the workshop, PIA trained 60 people from their congregations and local nonprofits to help community members understand and negotiate the very detailed and challenging N-400 citizenship application.

The Citizenship Day also included a "Know Your Rights" workshop to help immigrants know how to respond if approached by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. PIA will offer follow-up citizenship classes to help people pass the citizenship exam, improve English language skills, and develop life-long leadership ability. PIA's citizenship campaign also provides a bridge between the immigrant and non-immigrant community to foster understanding and learning about one another.

PIA's Citizenship Day is part of an ongoing collaborative effort with Univision, the Spanish-language media corporation, and all seven San Francisco Bay Area PICO affiliates to help the thousands of eligible legal residents in the Bay Area become citizens who vote on issues critical to their communities and act as leaders in their communities.

To learn more about PIA, visit www.piapico.org

Click here to learn more about the PICO Bay Area Citizenship and Civic Engagement Campaign