Sponsor Talks Importance of Upcoming C-U Conference On Immigration

Attendees can learn about many topics at the Immigrant Community Conference and Benefits Fair, including how to obtain a green card and how to become a U.S. citizen. 

Gloria Yen is the director of the University YMCA’s New American Welcome Center—a sponsor of the event. She says there are roughly 24,000 immigrants in Champaign County, with about 4,000 eligible for U.S. citizenship. 

“We want people to be able to secure citizenship status if that’s something that they desire, and we want to equip them with the resources that they need to do so," said Yen. 

Yen says there are unlicensed scam artists out there who often pose as attorneys or credited representatives—and mislead immigrants who are trying to navigate a complicated system. 

She says the conference is just one of many integration and education efforts led by immigrant advocacy organizations in Urbana-Champaign—such as the New American Welcome Center. 

The free conference is open to the public, is hosted in part by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and is located at the Urbana Adult Education Center.