Ethnicity & Immigration - Citizenship Of Immigrants: The Trend Is Down

Percent of All Foreign-Born who are Naturalized Citizens

In the period 1970 to 2000, the foreign-born population of the United States increased from 9.7 to 28.4 million people, nearly a tripling of numbers (a 192% increase). In the same period, foreign-born residents who were naturalized citizens increased from 6.2 to 10.6 million (a 71% increase).

Citizenship by Region of Origin - 2000

A look at citizenship rates by region of origin is provided in the inset graphic. Note that the Latin American group, with more than half of the foreign-born population, has the lowest rate of citizenship. At the same time, the second most rapidly growing group, the Asians, has the second highest naturalization rate. The overall citizenship rate of the foreign-born population is thus a composite of these two factors.

The highest rates of citizenship are associated with those groups that have been in the United States for the longest time. Due to the rapid increase in immigration during recent decades, the median length of residence of foreign-born individuals has dropped. It was 20.3 years in 1970 and 14.4 years in 2000. It may be assumed that, as these newcomers spend more time in the United States, the citizenship rate also will increase.

Non-citizens cannot vote. In courting the new minorities, are politicians taking this fact into account? Most likely they are. At the margins, every vote counts.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Current Population Reports. Series P23-206. Schmidley, A. Dianne, Profile of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States:2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001.