LOS ANGELES -  The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund issued the following statement regarding the release of the Obama Administration’s FY 2010 Department of Homeland Security budget:

“The NALEO Educational Fund is greatly encouraged by the proposed funding for immigration services
and newcomer integration initiatives in President Obama’s FY 2010 Department of Homeland Security
budget. The budget appropriates $206 million for immigration service costs that could eliminate the
surcharges in naturalization fees currently charged to cover the expenses of refugee, asylee and military
naturalization applications. The Administration has stated that this is the first step toward reforming
immigration fees to ensure that applicants for immigration services are only charged for the costs related
to processing their applications.

“The NALEO Educational Fund also commends the Obama Administration for allocating $10 million to
establish a new immigrant integration program in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,
and for providing increased funding for English literacy, civics education and refugee resettlement. We
believe these allocations will enhance our ability to ensure that all newcomers become full participants in
our nation’s economic and civic life.

“We believe that the Administration’s proposal to reform immigration fees lays the foundation for the
fundamental changes needed in our system of financing immigration services to ensure that naturalization
is affordable to legal permanent residents who pursue the dream of U.S. citizenship. We urge the
President to fully pursue this opportunity and make naturalization fee reduction a reality this year.
“The President must now work closely with Congressional appropriators to obtain approval of his
immigration services and newcomer integration budget. In particular, the President and Congress must
ensure that there is adequate funding for refugee and asylee adjudications so that the reform of
immigration fees does not adversely affect these important humanitarian programs.

“The President’s FY 2010 budget is a first step toward developing public policies that will welcome
newcomers, make them a part of larger society, and strengthen our democracy through greater civic
participation. The NALEO Educational Fund looks forward to working with the President and Congress
to achieve this goal.”