A number of prominent technology firms in California’s Silicon Valley have teamed up to air their support for immigration reform. A variety of engineering and technological companies in the United States hire workers from overseas due to their specialized skill sets and invaluable experience. In order to support these workers Nokia, ABZ, DTZ and Technology Credit Union are moving to provide assistance to staff members who possess green cards but wish to become US citizens.
Many larger firms are not used to working with non-profit organizations, hence the reason why these particular organizations were selected to kick off the project. The effort is being coordinated by the National Immigration Forum, which estimates that there around 385,000 who hold green cards and that would be eligible to receive naturalization in the United States.
Last year saw the creation of The Bethlehem Project, which was set up in order to offer funds for services available to employed immigrants. The technology giants that have decided to join the project aim to connect businesses that employ a big immigrant workforce to legal assistance in their local area. These companies will then be able to assist their workers to prepare to take the citizenship test and fill out immigration forms.
The Bethlehem Project is intending to offer legal permanent residents who work for the companies involved in the project to attend an information session about citizenship. They will also be given legal assistance, free of charge, in addition to help with the preparation and submission of their applications.
