COLORADO, USA — There are about 55,000 people residing in the Mile High City illegally, according to the City of Denver.
President Donald Trump this week announced that nationwide immigration raids, which federal authorities refer to as targeted enforcement, are scheduled to begin Sunday.
The mass raids, to be conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), are set to target roughly 2,000 people with final orders of removal, including families whose immigration cases had been fast-tracked by judges.
ICE would not confirm if Denver was among the cities due to safety of personnel, but did tell 9NEWS they regularly target specific individuals.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) outlines the steps to becoming a US citizen, which can be different for individual immigrants in the country:
For most, the first step is becoming a permanent resident and getting a green card. A green card is a permit allowing a foreign national to live and work permanently in the US.
Immigrants can apply for green cards through several avenues, such as marrying a U.S. citizen or through political asylum.
Some immigrants do not meet any requirements to become a permanent resident, meaning they may not have family here, haven't received approved asylum status or obtained employment.
If the application is accepted, most immigrants must hold permanent residency status between three to five years before applying to become a citizen.
USCIS said processing for the citizenship application can last up to a year, depending on where the immigrant lives, the case and how busy the office is at that time.
Provided that everything goes smoothly and applications are filled out on time, it can take four to seven years to obtain citizenship.
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