Last week, on September 22, 2014, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean joined a growing number of American mayors who recognize that immigration is a benefit to our cities. The mayor opened a new Mayor’s Office of New Americans and announced initiatives around the city to support English as a Second Language classes at Nashville libraries and classes to help permanent residents study for the U.S. citizenship exam, which is part of the naturalization process. New American Corners at five Nashville libraries and four community centers are now prepared to help applicants with the citizenship exam.
In his remarks about the new initiative, the Mayor said,
When an immigrant comes to America and considers all of the cities or towns where they could locate, and they choose to live in Nashville, that is an incredible honor to us. I believe that with honor comes a duty to ensure that New Americans have an opportunity to succeed in their new home.
This Thursday, October 2, 2014, the Mayor’s office is hosting a lunchtime panel discussion on how the new office can work with and support Nashville’s immigrant community. The panel will take place at the Sonny West Conference Center and is free. For more information about the Mayor’s Office of New Americans, see http://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/MayorsOffice/docs/news/140922-MONA-FactSheet.pdf