The White House launched a national, multilingual public awareness campaign Thursday to help almost nine million legal permanent residents overcome barriers to become U.S. citizens.

'If you are eligible, commit to become a citizen today. It is an important step for you, and an important step for our nation,' said President Barack Obama in a video that launched the campaign on Citizenship Day, observed every Sept. 17.

'Join us. Together we can make America to stand even stronger.'

According to recent estimates, there are approximately 13.3 million legal permanent residents in the United States but only 8.8 million who are eligible to apply for citizenship.

Government data show nearly one out of every three eligible individuals obtained their legal status in 1990 or earlier.

The White House has been careful to avoid the appearance that it is trying to boost Democratic voter rolls in time for the next election.

But the Los Angeles Times reported Friday that 'the political effect is clear: Most of the potential new citizens are Latino and could be expected to vote for Democrats if they become eligible.'

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CITIZENSHIP PUSH: President Barack Obama will allow green-card holders to apply for citizenship with credit cards, not cash, to pay the required fees

PLEDGE: Ricky Checo, center, of the Dominican Republic, took the oath of allegiance along with other immigrants during a citizenship ceremony at Liberty State Park on Thursday in Jersey City, NJ

ANGRY: Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Guttierez said in July that legal Hispanic immigrants living in the U.S. should become citizens to send a message to Donald Trump

The campaign was conceived by a task force created by Obama last November, all part of a package of presidential executive actions on immigration that included expansion of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants young immigrants work permits and reprieve from deportation.

The federal government's action on DACA, as well as a program that would extend deportation protections to certain parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, were put on hold on Feb. 16 by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas.

A Democratic congressman foreshadowed the campaign in July with a House floor speech in which he urged millions of green-card holders to become citizens in order to send Donald Trump and other Republicans a message that they're 'mean and frankly, let’s be honest, racist.'

Louis Gutierrez, the senior House Democrat from Illinois and a Puerto Rican, said that 'every time you see Trump’s face on your TV, vow to learn a little more English or a few more history facts so you can take the [citizenship] test.'

'Let’s turn Trump’s negative words into something positive. That is how you deal with bullies and bigots.'

Gutierrez spoke next to a poster of an angry-looking Trump, at times becoming just as animated himself.

For its public awareness campaign, the White House said businesses and nonprofit groups plan to host more than 70 citizenship outreach events in the first week, complementing 200 ceremonies in which the federal government will welcome more than 36,000 new citizens across the country.

BIG PICTURE: The Los Angeles Times reported Friday that the net effect of the new policy will be the creation of new loyal Democratic Party voters

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin to allow credit card payments of the $680 naturalization fee and expand its mobile services to rural communities through a new partnership with the Agriculture Department.

USCIS will also launch an online U.S. civics and history practice test, a mandatory requirement for green-card holders who want to become American citizens.

Naturalized U.S. citizens such as chef and restaurateur José Andrés, actress Diane Guerrero, singer and songwriter Dave Matthews, and former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela will participate in the campaign, called 'Stand Stronger,' which will also seek to increase awareness of the contributions of new Americans.

The White House said almost 20 cities have joined the initiative, including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh and Atlanta.

There will be in-language material available in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Tagalog, and the campaign will be promoted by various media companies such as Univision, Entravision, Latina Magazine and People en Español.

A White House official told The Associated Press that the Obama administration is not seeking to naturalize a specific number of legal permanent residents.