Millions refuse U.S. Citizenship

Miami Herald ^ | 09/18/03 | ALFONSO CHARDY

[bedolido]

IMMIGRANT RESEARCH

Poor language skills and pride in national origin are two reasons why nearly eight million foreign residents eligible for U.S. citizenship have not applied, according to a study released Wednesday.

Mexicans and Canadians are among the nationalities least likely to apply for citizenship, the report by the Washington-based Urban Institute found. Historically, there have been millions of immigrants with green cards who have not sought citizenship for various reasons, but this is the first time a study has focused on the issue.

''Despite rising naturalization rates, the pool of legal immigrants eligible to naturalize remains strikingly large,'' the study said.

OFFICE CREATED

To encourage more applications, the Bush administration this week announced the creation of the Office of Citizenship.

Eduardo Aguirre, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a recent interview with The Herald that his goal is to eventually naturalize one million new citizens per year. In 2002, about 573,000 foreigners became citizens.

''We share many of the same concerns in the Urban Institute brief,'' said Dan Kane, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Typically, surges in naturalization applications follow changes in federal immigration law. A record 1.4 million applications were submitted in 1997, a year after Congress tightened immigration laws. Applications soared again after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when more restrictions were introduced.

OTHER REASONS

Other reasons that dissuade foreigners from seeking citizenship are fear of rejection and for some Canadians and Mexicans proximity to their homeland.

Of the 7.9 million eligible foreign residents, 2.3 million are from Mexico, according to the report. The report did not include a breakdown for Canadians.

The rate of Mexicans seeking citizenship has climbed from 19 percent in 1995 to 34 percent in 2001, the report said.

The number of Canadians seeking citizenship has remained at about 50 percent in recent years.

''Canadians are more likely than Mexicans to naturalize, but less likely than others to naturalize,'' said Jeffrey S. Passel, demographer and principal research associate at the Urban Institute. By comparison, the percentage of Asian nationals seeking citizenship is about 67 percent.

Foreign nationals seeking asylum or fleeing from dictatorship were among the most likely to want to become American, Passel said. Seventy three percent of Cubans seek citizenship, he said.

[exmarine]

Man is not very good at figuring out what they are or how to apply them.

I agree with you here! All man has to do is read the Scriptures and obey them, and put his faith in Jesus Christ. Then man will know what to do as God will show him thru scripture and through the Holy Spirit.

[buwaya]

Mr. ex-marine,

Good, you have moral absolutes. Now you have the standard conundrum of defining them and reconciling them. One classic case is, in the context of "thou shalt not kill", of the policeman called on to shoot an armed robber threatening innocent persons. There is no commandment saying "thou shalt not permit murder". Where are you on that ?

There is no cop-out option of redefining it as "thou shalt not commit murder". Start down this path and you end up promoting dictionaries to holy writ.

The Catholic approach to reconciliation is through analysis through reason and moral philosophy. This isn't moral relativism.

[Redleg Duke]

Fine, you don't want to assimilate and share in the responsibilities...get the hell out!

[exmarine]

However, even if morality comes directly from God, it still has to be filtered through human beings.

No, it doesn't. God is eternal and existed before man. Moral absolutes flow direclty from the character and person of God. They reflect His good, holy, wonderful nature. If man didn't exist, moral absolutes would still exist as they are eternal and transcendant.

The gray areas are where we have to decide, as human beings, what's right and what's wrong. God doesn't speak to us on every single moral issue.

God has ALREADY spoken on every major moral issue. It's all in the bible - have you read it? It's the instruction book for life. Man does not have the authority to decide what is right and wrong - it's been decided by God. God is the supreme lawgiver and the standard for good. Some situations are complex, but if examined carefully in light of scripture, it can be determined what God's will is even in complex situations. Where scripture is silent, it is God's permissive will (e.g. should I or shouldn't I move to Nebraska), but on major issues (killing, national pride, sovereignty over the earth, etc.), scripture is not silent.

[Modernman]

Read the 10 commandments - those are moral absolutes - murder, stealing, lying, adultery are wrong whether you believe they are wrong or not

And, much like constitutional interpretation, you need to figure out exactly what qualifies as "murder" or "stealing." Does a soldier commit murder when he kills an enemy in combat? Is lying to Nazis to save Jews you're hiding in the attic wrong? If your answer to either of these questions is "no," then the 10 Commandments are not absolutes, because there are exeptions to the rules.

That's what I'm talking about when I say we as human beings decide morality.

[buwaya]

And all this does not mean that anybody has one bit less chance of salvation than anyone else, or to whom you have one bit less of an obligation to love as your neighbor.

[buwaya]

Ending the draft was a pretty good idea actually.
It improved the military a great deal by improving the quality of its recruits.
It reduced the economic cost of taking so many young men from the labor force.

Getting more permanent residents to apply for citizenship seems pretty innocuous.

[Beck_isright]

"You stil haven't shown how this makes Mexico an "enemy nation." Our border with Mexico is certainly disfuntional, but that doesn't mean Mexicans want to destroy the US."

1. A nation which will not secure their borders against our enemies, yup, that's Mehico.

2. A nation who has a government for sale to every drug cartel on the face of the earth.

3. A nation who allies itself with our enemies (Cuba for one).

Do I need to go on? Or are you going to continue to defend the communist loving burrito eaters to our south? If you don't like my designation I really don't care. Mexico is as much a threat to the U.S. as is Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and possibly some day even China. What you think about my opinion is something I couldn't give a rat's ass about. It's obvious that you will defend that garbage nation so long as it doesn't affect your boy's chances of being re-elected. Have a nice day bbot.

[Modernman]

Some situations are complex, but if examined carefully in light of scripture, it can be determined what God's will is even in complex situations

That statement could have come right out of Osama Bin Laden's mouth. Muslims say the same thing about the Koran- everything you need to live your life is in there, too.

Any book, whether it be the Bible, the Koran or Das Kapital, if analyzed to death, can give an answer to any moral question. I prefer to rely on the parables in the Bible for the big issues, and rely on my own free will to decide on the gray areas.

[Modernman]

Mexico is as much a threat to the U.S. as is Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea and possibly some day even China

Boy, someone'e been drinking the Pat Buchanan Kool-Aid lately. Sure, the Mexicans have been threatening to nuke us lately, I'm sure.

What you think about my opinion is something I couldn't give a rat's ass about.

Likewise, I'm sure.

It's obvious that you will defend that garbage nation so long as it doesn't affect your boy's chances of being re-elected. Have a nice day bbot.

Well, seeing as you paleo-cons are the dinosaurs of the conservative movement, rapidly sinking into the ideological tar pits and joining your Bircher ancestors in the dustbin of history (to mix a few metaphors), I think I'll stick with the ideology that actually gets Republicans elected to office.

[buwaya]

An incompetent government - yup.
A bad neighbor - sometimes.
A bad taste in friends - sometimes.
A loudmouth anti-American minority - not as bad as we have in the US itself.

An enemy nation ? By this standard the US should be at war with the whole world.

[Modernman]

Getting more permanent residents to apply for citizenship seems pretty innocuous

On one hand, people on this thread are saying "Damn furriners, love it or leave it." On the other hand, they critisize the President for wanting to set up an office that will encourage LEGAL permanent residents to become citizens.

Seems like certain people on this thread would prefer it if no damn furriners ever came to this country.

[buwaya]

"Seems like certain people on this thread would prefer it if no damn furriners ever came to this country. "

One does get that impression.

[Beck_isright]

"I think I'll stick with the ideology that actually gets Republicans elected to office."

Change that to Republicrats and you finally have your facts straight. Mexico is nothing more than a more expensive version of China. But I forgot, nationalism is the ideal of us dinosaurs. Better to be a dinosaur than a phoney, willing to sell your soul and dispense with the little things in life. You know, like principles.

[Modernman]

But I forgot, nationalism is the ideal of us dinosaurs. Better to be a dinosaur than a phoney, willing to sell your soul and dispense with the little things in life. You know, like principles.

I suppose ideological purity is a wonderful thing. You get to feel self-righteous and dispense with little things like compromise, political reality etc. You're also free to critisize to your heart's content since your brand of conservativism can never hope to get power and will therefore never have to live in the real world, where more than half of the electorate considers itself a Democrat or Independent. No, go ahead and call unprincipled any Republican that believes in realistic, electable policies.

[Beck_isright]

"No, go ahead and call unprincipled any Republican that believes in realistic, electable policies."

You're right. Any Republicrat should vote for any politician that will do what they think they want.

Abortion? Big deal, they can't vote so slaughter away. Immigration? Come on over from any nation, private property rights are a prehistoric concept, we'll give you someone else's home. Gun Ownership? How barbaric. Bill of Rights? Phhht. That's something those old farts who were in the military in the old days believed in.

Yeah, you're right. We should all vote for a Republicrat who represents your ideals and values so we can hold on to the White House and Congress. So who should we vote for? Kerry, Dean or W? They are all about the same.

[Beck_isright]

I don't know how you can discuss anything we these people. They are pure Romans. And that's what scares me. The Romanipublic party is now in power. And they are as scarey as the socialists on the other side.

[thegreatbeast]

My attitude changed a mite on September 11th, 2001. My country needs to know that the people here appreciate this noble experiment.

"Given that my ancestors shot at you yankees during the Yankee invasion, I understand her feelings."
And you lost.

"No, my US company wanted my expertise there, it had nothing to do with the host."
Do you do this on purpose, misunderstand? If a native country could have done the work correctly and profitably, your company would not have been hired in the first place.

[Modernman]

Abortion? Big deal, they can't vote so slaughter away

Roe v. Wade is still law in this country, unfortunately. Not enough people are pro-life to get a constitutional amendment passed. What's your plan to change this?

Immigration? Come on over from any nation

11% of people in this country are foreign-born. Historically, that's pretty average.

private property rights are a prehistoric concept, we'll give you someone else's home.

Don't know anyone who's had their home seized by the feds to be given to someone else. Must be going on covertly.

Gun Ownership? How barbaric

I own several, as do a lot of people I know. Over the last couple of decades, concealed carry has gotten more widespread, if anything. But, hey, I'm sure the Bush administration has a secret plan to round up all our guns.

Bill of Rights? Phhht.

Yup- last time I tried to voice an opinion on Free Republic, the FBI came and threw me in jail and quartered a soldier in my house in peacetime.

[hosepipe]

[ Coulter documents treason, or treasonous impulses, dating back to the 1930's. It is no worse now than it was in 1968 or 1939. ]

After 50 years of a verible free reign by communists(i.e. McCarthism scare), who have all but taken over the campuses in the U.S. graduating ultra left wing lawyers, journalists, and most every other specialty especially haveing to do with politics and propaganda vectors of every kind.. you see NO DIFFERENCE..!!..
(SEE Frontpage mag or any other David Horowitz pub...)

Horowitz was a 3rd generation communist until he got his mind right... He knows whats up, and whos up to it... Same with Steven Collier on that site... Suggest you drop the rose colored glasses and find out that Ann Coulter is NOT speaking hyperbole but is, if anything, downplaying the reality of it all...