Why some states may see more immigrants becoming U.S. citizens than others
By Kellie Podsednik
Immigration in the United States became a politically charged topic this past election year. But with the majority of hype surrounding undocumented or illegal immigrants, little room is left to discuss issues of legal immigration.
Most immigrants living in the United States do so legally as permanent residents possessing green cards. However, less than 50 percent choose to become naturalized citizens. This rate is surprisingly low, especially when compared to other nations like Canada, the U.K. and Australia, which have naturalization rates of 90 percent, 70 percent, and 85 percent, respectively.
This low naturalization rate in the United States puzzles economics professor Tamara Woroby, who says citizenship has tremendous benefits.
“That’s why we scratch our heads, because if you become [a citizen], you get to vote … you seem to do better economically. You are a fuller member of society. There are more jobs open to you, like you can work for the federal government—you can’t work for the federal government if you’re not a citizen—and you get to sponsor your family, which you can’t do otherwise,” Woroby says.
“There’s so much talk in the media about the undocumented, there is little real knowledge that we have about the problems specific to immigrants in this country.”
Woroby teamed with fellow economics professor Melissa Groves to explore factors that might account for this trend. If there are so many benefits to naturalizing in the United States, both economically and socially, why are the naturalization rates of immigrants so low? And why do these rates differ so dramatically among states?
“We went through the literature to try and gather information on whether people had done research looking at this population [legal immigrants] and the variation that you see across states, and there’s very little out there,” says Groves. “So while there’s so much talk in the media about the undocumented, there is little real knowledge that we have about the problems specific to immigrants in this country.”
They conducted a study on the naturalization rates of immigrants in the United States and found that states that are friendlier to immigrants, both economically and socially, have higher naturalization rates.
In particular, immigrants tend to seek citizenship at higher rates in states with more employment opportunities and higher wages. For example, Vermont has a state naturalization rate of 59 percent. This percentage is positively affected by high employment rates, good economic conditions within the state, and a smaller percent of the population living below the poverty line.
An even greater influence on the rate at which immigrants naturalize is how welcoming the state is socially.
Inversely, North Dakota and Arizona have a naturalization rate of just over 30 percent. One explanation may be poorer economic conditions, and a large percentage of the population living below the poverty line. Thus, according to Woroby and Groves, “citizenship is more likely in areas where there are better economic environments.”
But an even greater influence on the rate at which immigrants naturalize is how welcoming the state is socially. In Woroby and Groves’ research, factors of a socially welcoming environment include “a higher voter turnout, a larger Democrat to Republican ratio, higher spending on education, and greater social rights.” Again, states like Vermont, which have a high voter turnout, and more social rights, see higher rates compared to states with lower voter turnout and fewer rights for immigrants, like North Dakota and Arizona.
With false perceptions permeating public discourse—whether it’s the idea that the majority of immigrants are in the country illegally or that legal immigrants automatically become citizens—Woroby and Groves hope to add hard data to the immigration discussion and further educate both the public and policymakers.
“There’re all these misconceptions, especially with all the political dialogue going on now about what should we do with immigrants,” says Groves. “It was one of these times when you can say, ‘Well, let’s take a closer look and see what helps us to explain these state-level differences in naturalizations.’”
Woroby and Groves’ paper, “The Naturalization of U.S. Immigrants: Why Citizenship Rates Differ by State,” was in the Review of Social Sciences this past summer. They presented it at the 82nd International Atlantic Economic Conference in Washington, D.C., in October.
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