Nashville’s Libraries Take On Citizenship Prep For Immigrants

Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Lori Scialabba signs an agreement with Nashville Mayor Karl Dean regarding a program to help guide permanent residents to citizenship. Credit: Blake Farmer / WPLN

Immigrants may be spending more time in Nashville’s libraries and community centers in the coming months. On Wednesday, the city announced a partnership with the federal government to offer English classes and citizenship training on site.

“Thousands of immigrants and refugees from countries all over the world have made Nashville and Middle Tennessee their home, and that diversity makes our city stronger,” Mayor Karl Dean said in a written statement.

Dean has been doing what he can to make the city appear more welcoming to immigrants. So he asked U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to bring it’s “Pathway for New Americans” program to town. The deal basically gives aspiring citizens a place to go to get help with the process.

So far, Los Angeles and Chicago are the only cities with the program. But the agency’s acting director – Lori Scialabba – says it makes sense for the third to be Nashville, where immigrants have risen from 2 percent of the population to 12 in the last decade.

“They [immigrants] aren’t all going to places like Los Angeles or New York or Chicago,” Scialabba told reporters and immigrant advocates gathered at the downtown library. “So I think it was really important for us to establish this in a city like Nashville.”

The services and materials will be located at the Main, Edmonson Pike, Madison, Thompson Lane and Southeast libraries. Community centers at Coleman, East Park, West Park and Madison will also participate.

Federal officials say undocumented aliens won’t be turned away from language or civics courses, but the primary targets are permanent residents shooting for citizenship.