2018 Citizenship and Assimilation Grant Program: Refugee and Asylee Assimilation Program

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The Office of Citizenship (OoC), within U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is charged with promoting instruction and training on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. USCIS recognizes that naturalization is a culmination of the civic assimilation of LPRs who were resettled as refugees or granted asylum, however, some of these individuals may experience challenges with aspects of civic, linguistic, economic, cultural, and institutional assimilation when resettling in the United States, which may impact their progress toward full civic assimilation. The earlier refugees and asylees are able to engage in their community, the more likely they are to find satisfaction and success in their personal and professional lives; the more likely they are to make positive contributions to their communities and the Nation; and the more likely they are to become naturalized citizens. It is critical to provide former refugees and asylees with opportunities to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to fully assimilate into U.S. society. The goal of the Refugee and Asylee Assimilation Program(RAAP) is to provide extended assimilation services,which build on, but are not intended to replicate, those resettlement services funded by the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and the Department of Health and Human Services’Office of Refugee Resettlement, which prioritize early economic self-sufficiency. The primary focus of the RAAP is to provide individualized programming to lawful permanent residents (LPRs),who entered the United States under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) or were granted asylum, to attain the skills and knowledge required for successful citizenship and to foster a sense of belonging and attachment to the United States. This grant strives to promote long term civic assimilation of those LPRs who have identified naturalization as a goal yet may need additional information and instruction services to attain it.

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