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USCIS Provides Chinese Language Immigration Presentation at Famous Buddhist Temple in California

May 28, 2015 at 9:49 AM ET by the USCIS Blog Team
Summary: 
As a part of an ongoing outreach program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides information to immigrants in a variety of languages, including at in-person community events.

Ed. note: This is cross-posted on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' blog. See the original post here.

Reaching out to immigrants and future citizens is one of the most important things we do. As a part of an ongoing outreach program, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provides information to immigrants in a variety of languages, including at in-person community events.

One such event took place this past Sunday, April 19, at the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, not far from Los Angeles. USCIS officers made a presentation, primarily in Mandarin Chinese, on immigration basics and the process of becoming a citizen, including how to prepare for the naturalization test.

USCIS District Director Susan M Curda with Paul Chang at the Hsi Lai Temple

USCIS District Director Susan M Curda (second from right) with Paul Chang (third from left), Regional Advisor, White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders and members of the community at the Hsi Lai Temple.

The nearly 140 attendees, largely from the local Chinese and Taiwanese-American communities, were also informed about common immigration scams and how to detect immigration fraud. Afterwards, the presenters fielded and answered questions in Mandarin on a variety of immigration topics.

Susan M Curda (left) gives opening remarks and introduces the USCIS staff

Susan M Curda (left) gave opening remarks and introduced the USCIS staff. Afterwards, USCIS Officers Geoffrey Yen (right) and Kelvin Loangkote presented on immigration and citizenship basics in Mandarin Chinese.

This type of outreach is important because not all Chinese speaking residents of the United States have ready access to timely and accurate immigration information, and some are even preyed upon by unscrupulous fraudsters.

Martha Flores, Susan M Curda, USCIS Officer Brandon Menancio, and Paul Chang (far right) after the presentation

USCIS Chief of Staff for District 23 Office Martha Flores (far left), Susan M Curda (third from right), USCIS Officer Brandon Menancio (third from left) and Paul Chang (far right) after the presentation.

USCIS makes a point to form bonds in underserved communities and provide service and information person-to-person, in languages ranging from Spanish to French Creole to Chinese. This not only builds trust and takes the mystery out of the process, but also bolsters the integrity of our immigration system.