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County approves employee citizenship reimbursement program for legal permanent residents
Summary
El Paso County adopted a policy establishing a Pathway to American Citizenship fringe-benefit program to reimburse naturalization application and biometrics costs for eligible county employees who are lawful permanent residents.
The El Paso County Commissioners Court adopted a policy on Sept. 15 to establish a pathway-to-citizenship program that reimburses naturalization application and biometrics fees for eligible county employees who are lawful permanent residents.
County staff said the program fulfills a strategic priority to "value the county family" and will be administered as a county fringe benefit; the court allocated budget authority for reimbursements and approved a governing policy for eligibility and administration. Community Services staff told the court they estimate more than 100 El Paso County employees are lawful permanent residents and eligible for the program.
Why it matters: the program is intended to remove financial barriers to naturalization for county employees and to support workforce stability. Commissioner Stout and county staff framed the policy as a leadership step among Texas local governments; staff said they believe El Paso County is the first municipality in Texas known to establish such an employee reimbursement policy.
Court action: Judge Samaniego moved approval and Commissioner Stout seconded; the motion carried. Staff will implement the policy under Community Services and provide administrative details to departments and eligible employees.
