Naturalization Up Among Immigrants

High Rates in Md., Va., Report Says

The number of naturalized citizens in the United States grew to nearly 13 million between 1995 and 2005, a historic increase that reflects the nation's changing ethnic makeup and could increase the power of immigrants to affect public policy at the ballot box, according to a study released yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center.

More than half of the nation's legal immigrants are now naturalized citizens, "the highest level in a quarter century and a 15 percent increase since 1990," when the proportion of naturalized immigrants reached historic lows, the study said. Since 1995, the average number of yearly naturalizations has surpassed 650,000, compared with 150,000 in 1970.

Maryland was one of five states where more than 70 percent of eligible immigrants became citizens. The number of naturalizations in Maryland rose to 274,000 in 2005 from 120,000 in 1995.

Sixty-five percent of Virginia's eligible immigrants were naturalized in 2005, along with 50 percent of eligible immigrants in the District.

"We've seen dramatic changes in countries across the board," said Jeffrey Passel, the Pew Hispanic Center's senior research associate. "Today's immigrants are interested in becoming U.S. citizens," he said.

Mexicans were by far the largest group to naturalize, at more than 1.5 million. The number represented a 144 percent increase over 10 years, and it could have been much higher because Mexicans are the least likely of all groups to naturalize, Passel said. Another 3 million are eligible.

Immigrants from Cuba, China and the Philippines followed Mexicans as the largest groups to naturalize, Passel said. Most settled in four states -- California, New York, Texas and Florida.

The study, based on census data, did not address immigration policy or politics, and Passel declined to comment on those issues, except to say the trend would probably increase immigrant voting.

Immigrant residents with higher levels of education and better English skills are more likely to naturalize, Passel said. An additional 8.5 million legal immigrants are eligible to naturalize, but that group is made up of those who are least likely to do so. "They tend to be poorer; they tend to speak English less well and have lower levels of education," Passel said.

The increase in naturalizations can be partly attributed to the 1986 amnesty by the Reagan administration, Passel said. More than 3 million illegal immigrants became permanent residents, and many became eligible for citizenship in the early to mid-1990s after living in the country for five consecutive years.

Other immigration experts said the increase is also the result of laws that barred states from providing welfare and other subsidies to non-citizens in the 1990s, forcing eligible immigrants to naturalize.

The study comes amid a tense debate over immigration.