This past Saturday, eight students arrived at the Northern Nevada Literacy Council’s (NNLC) facility off Wedekind Road in north Reno to participate in a free adult education program offered by the organization—English as a Second Language (ESL) and U.S. Civics.
In their classroom, they answered basic questions about American history, read short excerpts of their textbooks to practice English, and listened to their instructor speak on the causes of World War I; however, getting better at English is not their only goal.
For student Mary Orozco, an immigrant from Mexico who has lived in the United States since 1989, and for other immigrant classmates like her, the class is a step towards obtaining American citizenship.
“We take it because we wanna be . . . citizens the soon as possible,” said Orozco from the front steps of the NNLC building during a brief break outside the classroom. “We are so happy [to] come to [the] U.S.A. because there’s more opportunities [for] us,” she added.
Eduardo Garcia, the NNLC’s academic director, says that his organization has offered citizenship-related instruction for immigrants since its beginning over four decades ago.
Their four hour ESL and U.S. Civics classes are held on Saturdays throughout thirteen-week sessions. These help immigrants prepare for their next step in the naturalization process following the completion of their mandatory residencies and their citizenship application.
“We assist them with preparing and bettering their English language skills, specifically when it comes to that process when they go in and sit for their interview,” said Garcia. “We teach them history, civics, what it is to be an American, and kind of just get them prepared for that.”
During their interviews, he says “they’ll be asked a random set of ten questions. There’s also a reading portion to it and a writing portion to that interview. If at any point they don’t pass one of those sections, the interview ends; and then this person has to apply all over again.”
Aside from the challenge of learning English and preparing for their interviews in class, the NNLC’s immigrant students can face other hardships too, such as finding transportation, childcare, or even time to enable them to attend classes, Garcia explained.
Still, the NNLC attracts hundreds of applicants to its ESL program, though it currently faces a capacity issue and typically only hosts around fifteen to twenty students per ESL and U.S. Civics class. To accommodate more students in the future, the organization is seeking to acquire larger classrooms by relocating to the Reno Town Mall.
Another issue facing the NNLC is its funding. The organization, which normally receives significant funding from the Department of Education via the state of Nevada, was affected by the Trump administration’s decision to freeze the distribution of $6.8 million through that department in July. Though some money was released for distribution later the same month, the NNLC’s funding stream has not yet returned to normal.
“We haven’t really seen what they told us we would be getting just yet,” reported Garcia. “It’s supposed to be coming.”
In the meantime, Garcia said his organization is relying on donations from the community to help support its classes and instructors.
One such instructor, Jeramy Ager (in top photo), just recently started teaching ESL and U.S. Civics classes.
In these classes, according to Ager, the responsibility is heavy. “I do everything from the lesson planning to where are we gonna go, what part of the book, and, you know, to getting up and monitoring students, checking their work and stuff,” he said. “It’s a lot, but we—we make it work, you know. It’s worth it.”
To help alleviate instructor workloads, the NNLC offers volunteer opportunities for the community—accepting volunteer teaching assistants and others willing to act the part of immigration officers in interview simulations to give students more practice before their real-life interviews commence.
Naturalization interviews are held nationwide at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) locations, and the local USCIS field office is in South Reno on Sandhill Road. The USCIS also offers immigrants more resources for interview preparation and the N-400 citizenship application form on their website.
Reporting by Ariel Van Cleve shared with Our Town Reno