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HispanicVista Guest Columnists

Mexicans become U.S. citizens at fast pace

By TERESA WATANABE

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES —  July 11, 2008 - The number of Mexican-born immigrants who became U.S. citizens swelled by nearly 50 percent last year amid a campaign by Spanish-language media and immigrant advocacy groups to help eligible residents apply for citizenship, according to a government report released Thursday.

Despite historically low rates of naturalization, the number of Mexicans who became citizens increased to 122,000 from 84,000 over the previous year, with California and Texas posting the largest gains.

Salvadorans and Guatemalans also showed significant increases.

But the overall number of naturalizations declined by 6 percent.

At the same time, the number of citizenship applications filed doubled to 1.4 million last year, the report by the U.S. Office of Immigration Statistics found.

The surge represents the largest year-to-year increase in Mexican naturalizations this decade.

It came amid pitched national debate over immigration reform.

In their report, U.S. immigration officials cited the campaign by Spanish-language media and a desire to apply before steep fee increases took effect as two major reasons for the jump.

The new report found that California posted the largest gains in new citizens, from 152,000 to 181,000, followed by Texas, which went from 37,000 to 53,000, and Illinois, from 30,000 to 39,000.

After Mexicans, the largest number of new citizens came from India, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, the Koreas and El Salvador.

"Immigrants are tired of the tone and tenor of the immigration debate, which they feel is humiliating and does not recognize their contributions," said Rosalind Gold of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund in Los Angeles. "That climate has fueled their desire to have their voices heard."

New citizens interviewed Thursday echoed those sentiments. Erika Lorena Rivera, 30, came to Los Angeles from Mexico at age 1, became eligible for naturalization a decade ago, but only decided to take the plunge last October, along with four relatives.

Rivera, a supervisor for a Los Angeles hair-accessory firm, said she was offended by what she perceived as growing anti-immigrant bias and was moved to apply for citizenship after hearing advertisements about it on TV.

"I became a citizen to have full rights and vote for a president for the first time," said Rivera, adding that she and her family all plan to vote for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.

The surge in new Hispanic voters could affect the political landscape this November and beyond, analysts said.

Gold said new Hispanic citizens have higher voting rates than long-time Mexican-Americans, with more shallow political allegiances. As a result, she said, their votes are still up for grabs for those elected officials willing to work hard to reach out to them.

In addition, she said, the proportion of Hispanic voters identifying themselves as independents is growing.

Mexicans have historically had low rates of naturalization — 35 percent compared to 59 percent for all immigrants.

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