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Naturalized Share Of Immigrants
About This Indicator
What Is This?
The share of people living in the U.S. who were born abroad and have since become citizens, from the Census Bureau's monthly Current Population Survey, averaged over each year. It counts every immigrant the survey reaches, whatever their legal status, so the rest are noncitizens of every kind: green card holders, people on temporary visas, and people here without papers. Since 1994.
Why Does It Matter?
Citizenship brings the vote, a seat on a jury, the right to sponsor parents and siblings, and protection from deportation. Most green card holders may apply after five years, or three if married to a citizen, so this line shows how much of the immigrant population has finished the long road from arrival to full membership.
Can Politics Influence It?
Congress sets who may apply and what English and civics they must show; administrations set fees and staffing, which decide how long an application waits. The share jumped about five points from 1995 to 1997, as people legalized under a 1986 law became eligible to apply.
Key Idea
Every newcomer arrives as a noncitizen, so the share rises when immigrants become citizens and also when fewer new people arrive. A wave of arrivals can pull it down in a year when many take the oath, and a closed border can lift it without a single new citizen.
Not Scored
Source: Census Bureau. Current Population Survey basic monthly public-use microdata (api.census.gov).
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