Immigrant advocacy groups say immigration enforcement ramped up in recent weeks.

What that looked like and what impact it had on undocumented children in the state, that's ahead, but we begin with what it takes to become a US citizen.

This is the lengthy application involved, and it's what Marichi Robeliol says she had the most difficulty with.

The Las Vegas woman, originally from the Philippines and now a US citizen, could have paid an attorney to fill out the application.

Instead, she got free help from the Asian Community Development Council.

That's where we met up with her, as well as with the nonprofit's president and founder.

Vida Lin said the ACDC was ready to help about 200 people with the citizenship process thanks to a federal grant of $300,000.

The organization was awarded the grant in November but, in March, learned that the Department of Homeland Security was terminating the grant because it, quote, no longer effectuates the program goals and the department's priorities.

What was your reaction when you found out that this grant was going to be terminated?

-My reaction was very surprised.

I couldn't understand the reason why.

These are people that's been in the United States for a long time that is legally here, that wants to become a citizen, the next step.

They have been here maybe 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, and they want to have a-- become a citizen, to be part of America.

But before that, they have been contributing.

They work, they pay taxes, they, you know, built and helped build America to where we are today.

(Marichi Robeniol) Knowing that these grant would be then retracted, it's really discouraging, you know?

It's a letdown for the many people that will need this assistance, because they have really been very helpful, basically, you know, especially so, as you can see, that's quite a thick number of pages.

-Pages to fill out.

-Right.

And there may be certain records that maybe especially with dates, you know, factoids, you know, in terms of who, what, where, and those are the things that I somehow needed real guidance and assistance in sorting those out.

I mean, on my own, I think I would really have had that difficulty.

-The process of becoming American citizen is not that easy.

They have to study 100 questions, because anytime during the interview, they will ask them any of those questions, right?

But think about 100 questions about the American history or the American, how the government works, right?

So people who's born here probably wouldn't know some of the questions you ask.

If you go down the street today and interview people, you will find out many of them don't know what's going on.

-Is this an in-person interview in which you are asked one or several of the 100 questions?

-Yes.

-This isn't a written test?

-Is not a written test.

You have to be there in person.

They will be asking you in English, in, you know, so you have to understand enough to be able to answer those questions.

-Wow.

And so this grant would have provided classes in which people got to practice that-- -Yes.

- --study and prepare themselves for that kind of a test.

-This grant will have given them more education to educate them to be American citizen, to be better American citizen.

-To our viewers who may ask, Well, why should taxpayers fund other people getting help to become citizens, what would you say?

-I would say, think about if your parents, your forefathers didn't go through the process that we do now, where would they be today?

So this is why the taxpayer money, which we are not asking a lot, we're here to help, very simply, for them to become citizen so they can be part of this country legally.

-So you had to call people and tell them, Sorry, we're no longer doing this program, we no longer have the funding.

-Yes.

And that was very heartbreaking for us to say that.

They worked so hard.

They already had everything set up, places where they were being trained to educate, and now we don't have that grant, so we won't be able to do some of the service.

We will do-- we will continue helping with applications and educating, but we wouldn't be able to do a full program that would benefit this country.

-So I imagine you're reaching out to your private donors and asking them to help out?

-We are.

We're reaching to private donors, individual donors, foundations, to see if we can continue this services.

We are doing-- I am so glad to know that a lot of the community are accepting to step up, because they understand we are here to help legally permanent resident become citizen.

-And when you say they are legal, permanent residents, do they have criminal backgrounds?

That's another big question among this immigration topic.

-So we think of the question we ask.

We probably go through what we call the N-400 application form.

That application form is very intense.

It's about two-hour questionnaire that we ask you.

The biggest question we ask is any criminal record.

We have to go through every detail about your background: How many times you've been married, the name of your kids, are they, you know, what their status.

We go through-- that question that we asked for the N-400 is very intense.

-And that's what you ask them as you're helping them fill it out?

-As we help them fill out the form.

-Okay.

-It takes about two hours-- -Wow.

- --per person to do.

Per person.

So if you have a family of four, we go through every detail.

So that's very intense.

So if anyone want to look at it, they can go online and look for the N-400 forms, and they can see how those questions asked.

The biggest question they asked is criminal record and criminal background.

-What about immigration activity in Las Vegas?

Has immigration enforcement increased in the Asian-American community here?

-I think the enforcement has increased in Nevada in general, right?

I think that-- -Have you heard of any cases of people being detained?

-Yes, we have heard a few cases.

One of the cases that I know this case is supposed to be for those who came who have committed a crime and they want to get them deported, which-- -That's what ICE is supposed to be focusing on.

-Yes.

But some of the case we hear is this one case where he actually has a business visa, and he overstayed because he's applying for a renewal.

The wife got the renewal.

His renewal did not come in yet.

But he got arrested with no criminal background.

So I don't know if we need more training on how the enforcement should be held.

-You don't consider that a crime, overstaying your visa?

-We don't consider that as a crime if you're applying for new one.

So-- and you're waiting for your status to come.

That is not a crime.

-Last thing, Vida.

You have represented the Asian-American community here in Las Vegas for decades.

Have you ever felt this kind of pressure or attention on immigration here?

-This time around, I feel much more people more negative, negativity, right, toward immigrants.

And I don't understand the reason why.

-You mean, currently, right now?

-Right now.

-Okay.

-I feel that it's so funny is because when you think about America, you think about the people who immigrate here, right?

And I can't stress more that everybody at one time immigrated to the US or were brought in from Africa, the slaves who were brought in forcefully, except for the Native American, that we all come from somewhere.

Where did immigrants become a negative or criminal before they even look at your background?

If you're looking foreign, you look foreign, they consider you as an immigrant, although you can be a couple generation here in the US.

We are just as American as anybody else.

And what United States made of is of immigrants.

There is no country like America.

We have people coming from all over the country to build rich culture, rich food that we enjoy, things that we can educate each other on.

This is what makes America so great.