The arrival of newcomers in our societies "impinges upon us" (Peter Jarvis). Adult and continuing education are invited to take a stance. In response to this, I explore how relevant citizenship education for and with newcomers can be conceived of. In the first place, I explore how the arrival of newcomers triggers ambivalent reactions between fear and hope. Next, I present different concepts of responsible citizenship as a response to these ambivalences. I connect these insights with Biesta's three approaches to public pedagogy: a pedagogy for the public, a pedagogy of the public, and a pedagogy of publicness. In line with "a pedagogy of publicness", I argue that "dissensus", rather than "consensus" and "interruption", rather than "dialogue" could be fruitful notions to conceive citizenship education for newcomers as a democratic practice, whereby both participants and facilitators open spaces of conversation about the world they come from, and the world they want to live in.