Almost $10 billion benefit to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW YORK: A new report titled ‘Citizenship: A Wise Investment for Cities on the civic, economic, and social benefits of naturalization in American cities’ says that immigrants’ earnings are estimated to increase 8-11% after naturalization, and also highlight beneficial ripple effects on the broader economy.
The report, released by the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) and the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII), coincided with events in the cities of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles announcing their mayors’ collaboration on a national immigrant naturalization effort called Cities for Citizenship (C4C), which was initiated in partnership with the report authors.
According to the report, if only half the number of eligible immigrants were to naturalize, it would cause a maximum benefit of almost $10 billion total for the three cities over the course of a decade; specifically, from $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion in Chicago, to $1.9 billion to $3.3 billion in Los Angeles, to $2.2 billion to $4.8 billion in New York.
The report also found that the SSI eligibility of newly naturalized immigrants would relieve pressure on local assistance programs by bringing more federal dollars into the local economy.
“Cities and their mayors are modeling progressive leadership to address national issues where the federal government has failed,” said Ana Maria Archila, Co-Executive Director of the Center for Popular Democracy, in a statement. “Cutting through the administrative and financial red tape of the naturalization process is an outgrowth of that leadership and will benefit millions of American families who have been excluded from the privileges of citizenship.”
The report’s authors cite, in addition to a whole host of personal and administrative barriers, the prohibitive financial cost of applying for citizenship, which has risen from a combined $225 in 2000 to $680 in 2008. The rate of naturalization has proven to be sensitive to price, particularly given that 52% of eligible immigrants are low-income.
“America’s mayors are realizing that they can and should act now to encourage naturalization and immigrant integration,” said Manuel Pastor, Director of the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. “This study makes the benefits for regional economies crystal clear, not only by boosting immigrants’ earnings, but for its larger positive ripple effects. We hope other mayors will recognize the deep value of this initiative.”