Mexicans Are Largest Group Eligible For Citizenship

By Victor Landa, NewsTaco

Here’s something to put into your bag of facts as we move into a full throttle debate on immigration reform. According to a study compiled by The Wilson Center Mexico Institute,  Mexicans are “by far the largest national-origin group eligible to become U.S. citizens.”

I know, it’s obvious and it’s great that someone has quantified it in a serious study. But if your mind is rattling with implications you’ll understand why this study is important – these numbers can and should be used to put together serious policy initiatives; to go from quantifying to codifying.

Here’s what the Wilson Center suggests:

These findings argue for the need to fashion policy and citizenship promotion efforts specifically addressed to unnaturalized immigrants in at least three distinguishable situations: the long-term eligible who may qualify to become citizens under an eased set of testing requirements; Mexican immigrants who have settled in non-traditional and rural areas of the country, at some distance from more established co-ethnic communities; and those immigrants who become newly eligible to apply for citizenship every year, but who may not be fully aware of their eligibility.

This is all new and unpublished data that looks a “legal” immigration from Mexico. And it’s important because it helps frame the immigration issue in a way that had, until now, been ignored.

The study is important as well in light of the fact that Mexican immigrants become citizens at lower rates than other immigrants. The relationship between the numbers is obvious, so we won’t go into it.

There’s a lot to digest here, so I’ll leave you the link to the study. And like I said, pack some of the data away for use in the ongoing immigration debate.

Read the full study HERE.