March 30, 2007	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 10, 1428

SAN FRANCISCO: The number of eligible immigrants choosing to become US citizens reached an all-time high in 2005, raising the percentage of newcomers who took the oath of citizenship to its highest level in a quarter-century, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Growth in legal immigration, as well as a greater tendency among foreign-born residents to embrace US citizenship, accounts for the trend, the Pew Hispanic Center said in its report based on federal Census and immigration data.

The nation’s 12.8 million naturalised citizens made up more than half of all legal immigrants living in the United States two years ago, compared to a low of 38 percent in 1990, Pew researchers found.

“Today’s immigrants are interested in becoming US citizens, and that’s showing up in the increased percentage of those who are eligible taking advantage of it,” said Jeffrey Passel, the study’s lead researcher. “It’s reached a point where the majority of those eligible to naturalise have done so.”

Passel’s analysis also showed that immigrants who qualify for citizenship are applying for it more quickly than in the past. A decade ago, about two-thirds of the eligible immigrants who had been in the United States for more than 20 years were naturalised. Now, about three-quarters of such long-term residents have become citizens.

Some of the theories proposed in the study and by others in the field include uncertainty generated by proposed immigration reform and stricter national security policies, interest in voting and other benefits of citizenship, and an increased acceptance of dual nationality in Mexico and other countries.

Although European immigrants are among those most likely to seek citizenship, naturalisation rates have been rising faster for expatriates from other parts of the world, the non-partisan Pew Center found.

The number of naturalised citizens from the Middle East, for example, grew 156 per cent, or 726,000 between 1995 and 2005, with the most rapid growth occurring after 2001. With their countries of origin in political turmoil and facing suspicion post-Sept 11, they may be more eager to secure their rights and ability to remain here, experts said.

“There’s a sense that we’re in a world where Americans are getting more and more concerned about legality, citizenship status, security – it’s better to be on the right side of that line,” said Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow with the New York-based Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “But I hope people are feeling they want to belong. We want a democracy where everyone participates.”

To become a citizen, legal permanent residents who are adults, have lived in the United States for at least five years and can speak English must pass a test demonstrating knowledge of the US Constitution, undergo a background check and take an oath of allegiance.

Along with the ability to participate in the immigration debate at the ballot box, citizenship also brings the right to bring in relatives still abroad. Immigrants who elect to become full members of society do so because “they see the consequences of having a voice”, said Mark Silverman, of the pro-immigrant San Francisco group Immigrant Legal Resource Center.

Experts also expressed disappointment that many immigrants take the step out of fear.

“It would be ideal if people were making the decision to become an American as an expression of full-fledged commitment to this country, not as a defensive measure,” said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favours limits on immigration.

The number of immigrants without authorization to be in the United States also grew sharply during the last decade, according to the Pew report.

The study estimates undocumented immigrants now make up nearly a third of the total immigrant population, compared to one-fifth in 1995.—AP