Legal immigrants seek American citizenship in surging numbers

Nationwide, applications have increased 79 percent, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

from the March 26, 2007 edition

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"Over the past year there has been a very intensive national discussion over immigration, which has raised the political consciousness of those millions who are in the US legally but are not yet citizens," says Roslyn Gold, chief counsel for NALEO. A similar surge happened in 1994 after California passed Proposition 187, denying public services to illegal immigrants, she says. What happened in California after Gov. Pete Wilson (R) famously championed Prop. 187 is happening again, but on a national scale, say several observers. Protest marches have led to mobilization drives for those eligible to obtain citizenship. That, in turn, led to increased Latino voter registration, which led to more Latino voting power and the ascension of key Latino politicians – L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez among them.

The catalyst nationally, these observers say, is the passage last year of legislation in the US House sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R) of Wisconsin, which made "unlawful" presence in the US a felony, broadened definitions of immigrant violations, and gave law enforcement new tools to arrest, detain, and investigate illegal immigrants.

"This could be déjà vu all over again," says Ruth Milkman, director of the University of California, Los Angeles Institute of Industrial Relations and author of a book about immigrants and labor. "Sensenbrenner set the stage for the same kind of mobilizations nationally that happened here in California in the 1990s. The naturalization upsurge is just the beginning of a repeat scenario nationally."

Ms. Milkman and others note that those seeking naturalization are not in the US illegally. They are "the ones who have played by all the rules," obtaining green cards and establishing US residency for at least five years. But because a majority of illegal immigrants live in the same communities as legal permanent residents – and in many cases the same houses – they often act in solidarity when either group feels threatened.

The surge in citizenship applications counters claims by those who say Latinos don't want to assimilate into American life.

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