This week, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) celebrated National Citizenship day by attending three oath ceremonies in Chicago and registering 221 new voters.

Since January 2013 ICIRR has registered 10,000 new immigrant voters in Illinois to move immigration reform. In Illinois there are 550,000 Legal Permanent Residents. Of these, 370,000 are eligible to naturalize. This past November, Latino, Asian, and immigrant communities voted in record numbers costing the Republican party a loss of four congressional seats, including three freshmen and 14-year incumbent U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale. “To achieve dignity and respect for our immigrant communities, we need to demonstrate our political power through our vote, “said ICIRR’s political director Artemio Arreola. “Immigration reform has reached this crucial moment due to the collective voting power in the last November election.

ICIRR will continue to mobilize the immigrant vote in Chicago and the suburbs, particularly in areas of Suburban Cook County and collar counties–Lake, Will, DuPage and Kane–where the immigrant population has grown significantly over the last decade.