Seattle nonprofit faces federal funding cuts for citizenship services
ACRS said it was among many nonprofits nationwide whose funding was significantly cut due to the assumption that it served undocumented residents.
Author: Brady Wakayama
Published: 7:35 PM PDT April 8, 2025
SEATTLE — A nonprofit meant to guide people through the process of becoming a U.S. citizen is losing some of its funding.
Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) in Seattle said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) terminated its grant for “Citizenship Instruction and Naturalization Application Services.
“It turns my stomach. We are a nation of immigrants,” Alexandra Olins said.
ACRS said it was among many nonprofits nationwide whose funding was significantly cut due to the assumption that it served undocumented residents.
“To pull funding for this grant is an attack on legal immigration in this country,” Olins said.
Olins oversees the Citizenship Department at ACRS. It’s been the state’s largest provider of naturalization assistance to Green Card Holders in the state for nearly 30 years. Since 2022, the non-profit has helped about 700 people a year become U.S. citizens, but those services may be in jeopardy.
“How did I feel when I got the email?” Olins said. “I actually really cried.”
The DHS sent a notice March 27 terminating ACRS’s grant. The $225,000 grant makes up 27% of the nonprofit’s budget for citizenship programming. The DHS said it determined the work performed under this award no longer effectuates the program goals and the department’s priorities.”
“We don’t have some magical immigration dust that we can spread on people that turn them from undocumented to documented,” Olins said. “We are working with lawful permanent residents who are eligible to naturalize.”
Residents like Cuc Thi Pham are anxiously working to become a United States citizen.
“I have to try really hard to be a U.S. citizen because nothing is safe for me even as a Green Card Holder here,” Pham said.
The 52-year-old is enrolled in ACRS’s free U.S. Citizenship course. It’s a 10-week class offered to Green Card Holders, preparing them for the U.S. Citizenship interview and test.
“Living in the U.S right now, as a green card holder, I feel like I’m very lucky already,” Pham said. “But once I become a U.S. citizen, it will be the best moment of my life.”
Olins is adamant ACRS will keep these services intact until the end of the year. She fears with these cuts, the non-profit may have to reduce these services starting in 2026.
“We’re a nation of immigrants,” Olins said. “Immigrants start businesses. They commit crimes at a lower rate than American individuals. They make our country better.”