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Have more immigrants become US citizens in recent decades? [1]

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Date: 2024-05-24 18:11:47+00:00

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

The number of immigrants who become U.S. citizens is generally higher in recent decades than it was previously.

Naturalization is the process for immigrants who are lawful permanent residents to become U.S. citizens. Eligibility requirements include being at least age 18, “of good moral character” and, for most applicants, passing civics and English tests.

The average number of people naturalizing annually increased from fewer than 113,000 during the 1950s and 1960s to 210,000 during the 1980s.

It then jumped to 500,000 during the 1990s, 680,000 during the 2000s and 721,000 during the 2010s, increases far greater than the country’s population growth.

In fiscal 2023 (Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023), there were 878,500 naturalizations.

Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, who represents part of eastern Wisconsin north of Madison and Milwaukee, made the citizenship claim during his remarks about illegal immigration May 18, 2024, at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention.



This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

USA.gov: Become a U.S. citizen through naturalization

U.S. Homeland Security Department: U.S. Naturalizations: 2022

Migration Policy Institute: Naturalization in the United States, 1910-Present

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: Naturalization Statistics

WisconsinEye: 2024 Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention

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[1] Url: https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/05/immigrants-wisconsin-citizens-republican-naturalization-fact-brief/

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