MEDIA CONTACTS Anina Bose (o) 212.792.8494 (m) 201.532.0891 [email protected] Ken Frydman (o) 212.239.6073 (m) 917.626.4270 [email protected] Michael Arena (o) 212.794.5685 (m) 917.991.1601 [email protected]
13TH ANNUAL CITIZENSHIP NOW! IMMIGRATION HOTLINE FREE AND CONFIDENTIAL APRIL 27 – MAY 1
NEW YORK – The New York Daily News and City University of New York (CUNY) today announced the dates for the 13th Annual Citizenship NOW! hotline. The hotline provides free and confidential citizenship and immigration information to thousands of callers. This year’s hotline is particularly timely, as immigrants eagerly wait for immigration reform. To date, nearly 136,000 callers have sought information from the hotline as they travel the complex road to citizenship. We expect this year’s call-in to be one of the busiest ever.
“While Congress and the courts debate President Obama’s programs to provide relief for undocumented immigrants, the Citizenship NOW! hotline is more important than ever,” said Daily News President and Editor-in-Chief Colin Myler. "We will help callers know if they qualify, and if they do, how they can prepare their documentation.”
“Great public universities such as CUNY are deeply committed to providing public service that improves the quality of life of our people,” said CUNY Chancellor James B. Milliken. “Our enduring partnership with The New York Daily News and all of the co- sponsors of the annual Call-in is an important example. The Call-in will help thousands of newcomers navigate the immigration maze on the path to U.S. citizenship, consistent with CUNY’s longstanding tradition of welcoming students who hail from countries throughout the world. We are proud to contribute through this vital program to the betterment of our City, State and Nation.”
Citizenship NOW!, the largest program of its kind in the nation, was co-launched by the Daily News and CUNY in April 2004 to address the lack of access to free and confidential immigration information for the people who need it most.
This year’s weeklong hotline will operate from Monday, April 27 through Friday, May 1, between 9am and 7pm, with more than 400 trained volunteers available by telephone over the course of the week. Calls will be answered in English and Spanish, as well as numerous other languages, including; Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Korean, Italian, Haitian Creole, Bengali, Polish, French, Yiddish, and Arabic.
WXTV Univision 41, our Spanish-language media partner, will provide extensive outreach to the Hispanic community. WXTV has been a partner of the program since its inception. WABC-TV will once again serve as our English language media partner. Both stations’ coverage will include live-coverage, on-air promotional announcements, and special news segments.
This year’s media sponsors are WADO 1280 AM and 92.7 New York. Generous sponsors include: Cisco, Presidio, Microsoft, Stella and Charles Guttman Community College, the CUNY Graduate Center, CUNY School of Law, CUNY School for Professional Studies, the New York State Office for New Americans (ONA), the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, the New Americans Campaign (NAC), the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Legal Aid Society, the Immigrant Advocates Network (IAN) and Immigrant Justice Corps (IJC).
The Citizenship NOW! hotline is led by attorney Allan Wernick who is also a professor of Law at Baruch College and writes the twice-weekly “Immigration” column for the Daily News. Additionally, Wernick writes the nationally syndicated column, “Immigration and Citizenship” and is the director of the CUNY Citizenship Now! project.
"Volunteers will provide callers with information on how immigrants can qualify for legal status and U.S. citizenship under existing laws,” said Professor Wernick. "Our goal for the Citizenship NOW! call-in is to empower immigrant New Yorkers. Immigrants can't wait for Congress and the courts to find them a path to citizenship. They need help now," he added.
On Monday, April 27, the call-in numbers for the Citizenship NOW! Immigration hotline will be available in the New York Daily News, at www.nydailynews.com, and on WXTV Univision-41 and WABC-7. TTY/TTD is also available.
ABOUT THE PARTNERS:
The City University of New York: The City University of New York is the nation’s leading urban public university. Founded in New York City in 1847, the University is comprised of 24 institutions: 11 senior colleges, seven community colleges, the William E. Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, the CUNY Graduate School and University Center, the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the CUNY School of Law, the CUNY School of Professional Studies and the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College. The University serves more than 269,000 degree credit students and 218,083 adult, continuing and professional education students. College Now, the University’s academic enrichment program, is offered at CUNY campuses and more than 300 high schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The University offers online baccalaureate degrees through the School of Professional Studies and an individualized baccalaureate through the CUNY Baccalaureate Degree. Nearly 3 million unique visitors and 10 million page views are served each month via www.cuny.edu, the University’s website.
Daily News: The Daily News is the largest and most widely read newspaper in the New York City metropolitan area and the largest tabloid website in New York. Founded in 1919, the Daily News has won 10 Pulitzer Prize Awards for excellence in journalism. The Daily News is the sixth-largest daily and the ninth-largest Sunday newspaper circulated in the United States and features the second largest multi-platform audience of any metropolitan newspaper in the country. NYDailyNews.com is the fifth-largest newspaper website in the United States. New York’s Hometown Newspaper is also available as a tablet app and on Blackberry, iPhone and Android mobile devices.
ABOUT THE MEDIA PARTNERS:
Univision Communications Inc.: Univision Communications Inc. (UCI) is the leading media company serving Hispanic America. The Company, a leading content creator in the U.S., includes Univision Network, one of the top five networks in the U.S. regardless of language and the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country reaching approximately 96% of U.S. Hispanic television households; UniMás, a leading Spanish-language broadcast television network reaching approximately 89% of U.S. Hispanic television households; Univision Cable Networks, including Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network, as well as Univision tlnovelas, a 24-hour cable network dedicated to novelas, Univision Deportes Network, a 24-hour cable network dedicated to sports, ForoTV, a 24-hour Spanish-language cable network dedicated to news, and an additional suite of six cable offerings - De Película, De Película Clásico, Bandamax, Ritmoson, Telehit and Distrito Comedia; Univision Television Group, which owns and/or operates 62 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio, the leading Hispanic radio group which owns and/or operates 69 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico, as well as Uforia, the leading Hispanic digital music service; UVideos, the first bilingual digital video network serving Hispanic America; an Interactive network of online and mobile apps and products including Univision.com, which continues to be the No. 1 most-visited Spanish-language website among U.S. online Hispanics, and Univision Partner Group, a specialized advertising and publisher network. UCI’s assets also include a minority stake in El Rey Network, a new 24-hour English-language network founded by maverick filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, and a joint venture with Disney/ABC Television Network for Fusion, a news, pop culture and satire TV and digital network. Headquartered in New York City, UCI has television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information, please visit
WABC-TV: Channel 7 is the ABC owned television station in New York City, serving more than 7.3 million television households in 29 counties covering New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. It is New York’s #1 station and the most watched local television station in the United States.
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