HOUSTON — Houston marked National Citizenship Day not with ceremony but with a status report—on scale, momentum, and mounting headwinds. The city is openly chasing the title of “Citizenship Capital,” and it has the numbers to make the case. That progress—and the looming changes ahead—were discussed among advocates, service providers, and newly naturalized residents at a Houston Community Media briefing on Sept. 17.
Houston’s field office ranked among the top in the nation for new citizens in FY2024, accounting for 3.3% of all naturalizations, while Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) data show that the Houston metro area ranked No. 5 (26,300) nationwide by where newly naturalized citizens live.
At the same time, a new, tougher civics exam takes effect this fall, and federal guidance has broadened how officers evaluate “good moral character,” including a return to neighborhood-style investigations—changes that local advocates say raise the stakes for those eligible to apply now.
A three-year bet on 300,000 would-be citizens
Houston’s current push—Naturalize Now, Houston—is a public-private coalition coordinated by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) with Harris County, the City of Houston, and a network of community-based partners; launched in 2023 with support from a local foundation, it aims to reach an estimated 300,000 eligible residents over three years.
Angie Dupree, one of NPNA’s local campaign leads, said Citizenship Community Navigators have “been outreaching to about 118,000” people since September 2023 and that “about 10,000 applications” were submitted to USCIS in the second quarter—part of why she said Houston has led or ranked second among field offices in five of the past six quarters.
For Janette Diep of Boat People SOS, the most powerful tool is one-on-one reassurance. “We had circles where people wanted to apply but were hesitant, especially with a lot of the new policies that were coming out,” she said. “One participant, she added, “just wanted to have someone to confirm that she was OK to apply… I think it only took her like a month… she was naturalized really fast.”
According to Diep, the Naturalize Now campaign has built a “village” of navigators tied to local supporting organizations that provide that level of one-on-one support.
At the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County, educator Ashley Borjon said many long-time residents hesitated for reasons that had little to do with English proficiency. “We’re building confidence, self-esteem… and digital literacy,” she said. Participants—often older adults—voiced doubts in her classroom: “Can I even accomplish this at this point in my life? I’m 64, I’m retired… Can I communicate it in confidence in English?” The surprise, she added: “They did not anticipate that they would be built up in ways they didn’t imagine.”
From the African diaspora community, Salemu Alimasi of CO_AFRO underscored the cultural bridge behind the numbers. “Unity within diversity is the beauty and the strength of our country and our community,” he said, describing the trust that persuades hesitant neighbors to step up.
The Melendez family: advocacy at home
The day’s most personal moment belonged to the Melendez family of Alief. Sitting beside her parents, Daniela Melendez—who works on an immigrant hotline—explained the long arc of their case. “It’s taken my parents about 25 years to get to where they are today,” she said. The push to finish the process came with rising anxiety—and a deadline. “The urgency was the elections,” she explained, “and I also just wanted them to be safe.”
Translating for her parents, she shared her mother’s message to others: “They can do it now… and then they can vote.”
Greater Houston is home to about 1.7 million immigrants; as of 2021, more than 700,000 were already naturalized, and hundreds of thousands more remained eligible, according to American Immigration Council. Nationally, USCIS swore in 818,500 new citizens in FY2024, a level above the pre-pandemic annual average. Houston and Dallas were among the top five field offices by volume.
“I feel like I’m the bad news bearer,” said Zenobia Lai of the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative (HILSC), before laying out the stakes: there “is no line” to citizenship for millions with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and DACA.
What “no line” really means: TPS and DACA are shields, not ladders. They can temporarily protect people from deportation and allow them to work, but they do not create eligibility for a green card and do not place someone “in line” for citizenship. To naturalize, a person must first become a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) through a separate pathway (family, employment, or certain humanitarian categories). Many TPS/DACA holders simply don’t have a qualifying category—hence, as Lai put it, there’s effectively no doorway to even start the citizenship process. That’s also why she urged those who are eligible not to wait: “Being an American citizen is the ultimate protection against deportation… Now is the time.”
Temporary programs can change; citizenship is the durable status.
What’s changing
- Civics test: For N-400s filed on or after Oct. 18, officers ask 20 questions from a 128-question bank;12 correct to pass.
- “Good moral character”: Late-August USCIS guidance emphasizes unlawful voting and false claims issues as part of a more expansive review window.
- Neighborhood checks: Field investigations under INA §335 can include interviews with neighbors or employers as part of naturalization vetting.
Cost is real — help exists
Money is a tangible barrier, especially for multi-applicant households. “The filing fee just keeps going up … with the current $760 … there are not that many families who can afford that,” said AJ Durrani of Emgage. He added that some applicants worry about “something in their background,” when, it may not be problematic. Navigators and legal screenings help families weigh those concerns, and fee relief is available.
The N-400 filing fee is $760 (online) under the 2024 rule, with a reduced-fee option of $380 for certain low-to-moderate-income applicants and full fee waivers for those who qualify. Local partners also help households cover costs.
NPNA’s portal (NaturalizeNow.org) lists local workshops and navigator referrals, and HILSC runs the Immigrant Resource Hotline, 1-833-HOU-IMMI (1-833-468-4664) for information and legal referrals.
For a complete list of resources, visit Becomeacitizentoday.com.
