Today, during National Park Week (which lasts from April 20-28), 68 community-based organizations are calling upon the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Forest Service and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to increase national park and federal recreational land access to immigrants and unbanked individuals. Leading this initiative are Friends of the Inyo and GreenLatinos.

The organizations released a COMMUNITY SIGN-ON LETTER addressed to heads of the U.S. departments of Interior, Homeland Security, and Agriculture, and aforementioned agency leads, calling for inter-agency cooperation to:

• Provide an America the Beautiful Pass as a “Welcome to America” gift to each newly naturalized citizen at swearing-in ceremonies;
• Consider the barriers that cashless entry to National Parks and other recreational sites impose on unbanked individuals; and 
• Cooperate to host swearing-in ceremonies on public land recreation sites. 

Please read the letter per the link above, then  use the following link to sign a petition available for members of the public to support this initiative. Thank you.

Read Friends of the Inyo and GreenLatinos’ media release here.