New Americans Initiative Civic Empowerment Award

On Friday, June 24 the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) hosted its year-end celebration and awards ceremony; at the ceremony, HACES was presented with the Civic Empowerment Award for its New Americans Initiative (NAI) program. Through NAI, we provide legal screenings, application processing, and citizenship test preparation services; services also include assisting clients with DACA renewal applications.

Last fiscal year ICIRR received $1 MIL to cover the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee for DACA applicants who couldn’t afford the $495 renewal fee. Scholarships are granted to those who met income eligibility guidelines. We are proud to partner with ICIRR to be able to help those who need us the most.

HACES received the Civic Empowerment Award because we helped 200 immigrants secure scholarships and because of the recognized excellence of HACES’s immigration services.