Posted on March 30, 2007

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Growing Proportion of Immigrants Choose Naturalization, Report Finds

The proportion of all legal, foreign-born residents who have become naturalized United States citizens rose to 52 percent in 2005, the highest level in a quarter of a century and a 14 percent increase since 1990, a new report from the D.C.-based Pew Hispanic Center finds.

The report, Growing Share of Immigrants Choosing Naturalization (39 pages, PDF), also found that the population of naturalized citizens reached 12.8 million in 2005, a record figure that reflects both a rise in the number of legal migrants and an increased likelihood that those who are eligible apply for citizenship. As a result of these trends, the average number of naturalizations annually has increased from fewer than 150,000 in the 1970s to more than 650,000 since the mid-1990s.

In 2005, the population of immigrants to the United States who were eligible for naturalization numbered 8.5 million, nearly three million of whom were from Mexico. While Mexicans still have a comparatively lower tendency to become U.S. citizens, the number of naturalized citizens from Mexico rose by 144 percent between 1995 and 2005 — the most of any of the countries with the highest rates of immigration.

“Growing Share of Immigrants Choosing Naturalization.” Pew Hispanic Center Press Release 3/28/07.

Primary Subject: Minorities
Location(s): Washington, DC

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