Path to Citizenship

 

You might know . . .

Many immigrants are granted legal citizenship each year.

But maybe you’ve never thought about . . .

Not everyone can get to this country legally, even if they follow all the rules, and the path to citizenship is made even more complex for immigrants whose temporary legal status has expired. The existing paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants are complicated, burdensome, and costly. It is not possible to ask undocumented immigrants to “get back in line” and gain citizenship legally. There is no clear line to follow, and for some people, no legal path to citizenship exists under the current system.

“I hereby declare . . . that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America . . . that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same . . . and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United  States of America

In 2015, about 730,259 individuals became naturalized citizens of the United States.

Source: US Department of Homeland Security

 

Many of those naturalized came from India (6%), the Philippines (6%), China (4%), the Dominican Republic (4%), and Vietnam (3%).

Source: US Department of Homeland Security

The processing time between submitting an application for citizenship and having a citizenship interview can vary from 5 months to 2 years.

Source: US Immigration

The estimated number of undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2016 was 11.3 million, down from 12.2 million in 2007.

Source: Pew Research Center

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Visit the Green Card Voices website at greencardvoices.com, and watch personal video narratives from America’s immigrants.
• Contact your representatives and ask them to sponsor and support immigration reform legislation that offers an expedited path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. See page 145 for a helpful guide to contacting your representatives.
• Attend a naturalization ceremony in your city. They are often public events, and the US District Court in your state should have the information posted online.

 

Of the individuals naturalized in 2015, 15% came from Mexico. This is the highest rate of people naturalized from a single country.

Source: US Department of Homeland Security

 

REFLECTION & JOURNAL SPACE

• Whose Green Card Voices story did you hear that affected you, making you see things in a new way?
• What feels fair or unfair about giving undocumented immigrants an expedited path to citizenship? What personal values do you draw on to define fairness?
• Do you consider your family’s migration story to be “fair”? Why or why not?

 

SOME HELPFUL DEFINITIONS

 

The following definitions describe legal terms related to immigration. They are based on information from the US Department of Homeland Security and the American Immigration Council.

• Refugee  A person admitted to the United States based upon an inability to return to his or her home country because of a well-founded fear of persecution due to the person’s race, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, religion, or national origin.
• Asylum seeker  A person already in the United States who
  is seeking protection based on the same five protected grounds as for refugees. The United States has no limit
  on the number of individuals who may be granted asylum in a given year, nor are there specific categories for determining who may seek asylum.
• Green card holder  Commonly used term for a lawful permanent resident. Green card holders are legally accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States. Refugees and asylees are eligible to become lawful permanent residents one year after admission to the United States as a refugee or one year after receiving asylum.
• Visa holder Person with a visa, a document that gives the person permission to stay in the United States for a prescribed amount of time. Some visas are non-immigrant visas; examples include work visas, tourist visas, and student visas. Immigrant visas allow an individual to enter the United States with the potential to apply for a green card and stay as a lawful permanent resident.
• DACA  An abbreviation for a “deferred action for childhood arrivals,” a federal government policy. Beginning in 2012, the Department of Homeland Security allowed certain people who entered the United States as children to receive deferred action with regard to removal proceedings for a period of time, subject to renewal. The program was rescinded in 2017.