Posted on 09/18/2003 9:38:43 AM PDT by 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.
I'm sure God appreciates your sarcasm. God invented laws, God is King over all, God is judge over all the earth. But men are sinful and rebellious, so governments are necessary to restrain evil. Read the preamble to the Constitution. It clearly states that government is necessary in order to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." So, if you dont' mind, I won't send Congress home.
And I ask you again- where did he get those ideas, if not the Classical World?
I already told you - from the bible which predates Greece and Rome. Although I'm see he saw those flawed examples of government. The United States is the first government EVER to be formed by the people. Montesquieu was a God-fearing Christian. Get it?
Really? Then how did the Constitution and Bill of Rights get ratifed in each state? Read the words in the Constitution, "WE, THE PEOPLE, {WHO?} IN ORDER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION..." You lose again.
Except for women, blacks, indians, men who didn't own property etc.
It was ratified by that small percentage of the people who were allowed to vote. 1/3 of the citizens were opposed to the revolution.
The constitution could read "We the martians," but that wouldn't make it so.
Nice of the kindly romans...although, I'm not sure that Christians enjoyed being human torches in Nero's garden, or whether Gaul enjoyed being conquered and raped of all of its treasures. Look, the Roman repbublic does not greatly resemble our republic - there are MAJOR differences which I already stated. Just accept it. Rome ended in a dictatorship.
My God doesn't need to be feared.
I'm sure blacks enjoyed being enslaved, and indians had a great time being driven to the point of extinction. These facts don't make Rome or the US non-Republics.
Yout view of history is based on some radical strain of Protestantism that wants to paint the US into some sort of theocracy.
And, hey, you're the one who started this whole thing up today.
I can quote founders - all you can quote is yourself!! I can CITE my sources - hundreds of ORIGINAL quotes that prove my point. America was a Christian nation founded upon Christian moral principles. Period. However, you have a dumbed-down view (revisionist) view of American history that is common in our schools today. You assert but can't cite anything!! That's believable (/sarcasm off)
Hmmm.... let's see- I've cited the University of Texas Classics department and a dictionary definition of Republic and Democracy.
You've cited, well, your personal opinions and the names of a few philosophers.
More public school ignorance. The indians were not these nice earth worshipping little tinkerbells - they were violent, murderous savages in many cases. Besides, it was not Christians who slaughtered indians. The Pilgrims started it off with a 50 year peace treaty and lived in peace with them. The founders realized slavery was wrong, and if you have read any of the founders, you would know that. I can tell you have done very little reading in this area, or if you have, you have read authors that do not rely upon primary source material.
The United States is the best and most noble experiment in government EVER. That being said, mistakes were made. Men are sinful. Like Slavery - a mistake that was paid for with the blood of 660,000 Americans. You just do not understand the basic sinfulness of mankind - that's your problem. Here's a fact for you that liberals like you can't refute. There has never been one single civilization in world history that has not persecuted or oppressed another people in some way. Name one and I will show you some persecution and/or oppressoin. In fact, non-Christian societies have been MUCH MORE VIOLENT which the slaughter under the communists attests.
hahaha. Dictionary? Classics dept? Who formed our government - our founding fathers. Try reading them. Until then, you don't know what you are talking about. You have a substandard education in American history. All of the material I have quoted comes form primary source material - i.e. The Constitution itself, writings of the founders. I can come back tomorrow with hundreds of exact quotes and source them for you if you like. I can provide such a blizzard of quotes and citations that your head will be spinning.
Funny, pilgrims and puritans were calvinists, and they came here to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. It says precisely that in the Mayflower Compact (I don't suppose you have ever read that either), and those calvinist roots were a big part of our Constitutional Republic. Furthermore, I didn't say it was a theocracy - your reading comprehension also needs work.
What am I doing? I'm arguing with an ignoramus who is so full of self-pride that he doesn't even realize how ridiculous his arguments are. Good-bye. I don't have any more time for you.
Nope, the indians weren't perfect, but Christians did a very good job of exhibiting very un-Christian attitudes towards them.
Anyway, I thought you were going to just ignore me from now on?
I'll stack my academic credentials against yours, any day.
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