California

Helping Latinos Find Their Voice

For the past year, 24-year State Farm Agent Enrique Martinez has been offering workshops to assist immigrants become citizens. On Saturday, May 7, Congressman Joe Baca addressed the attendees, with a message of encouragement and importance of adopting their new country. Congressman Baca is the President of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and spoke about his appreciation that State Farm sponsored the materials.

He explained, “Your vote is your voice, so it is important that you take the time to understand the issues and the person you vote for should too.”

Martinez felt a strong need to give back to the community in which he has lived and worked his entire adult life. About one year ago, he began opening his office up to clients and residents in Riverside, with about 10 attendees coming to learn what they needed to do to become citizens. As word spread, he has seen the workshops grow to an average of 35 people every Saturday! He can proudly say that he has contributed to 17 people obtaining their citizenship and he will continue to work for everyone who walks through his door.

“I really enjoy spending time with the people that come into the office for the classes. They’re hard working immigrants who want to take the final step in adopting this country,” said Enrique.

One of the attendees said she had been coming to the two hour workshops for about a month and was going to take here test soon. She said that Enrique took the time to explain things and was always positive.

The State Farm Es Para Mí™ (State Farm is For Me) program reaches out to the Latino communities through information and materials centered on education, civic engagement, and appreciation for culture. The goal is to help educate and integrate the Latino community into the civic process. State Farm, in conjunction with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, provide U.S. citizenship information (NALEO Naturalization Guide) for legal permanent residents and state-specific voter registration materials to Latinos at participating agents’ offices.