Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Why don’t they naturalize? Voices from the Dominican community

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Latino Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The United States has internationally low rates of naturalization of foreign-born residents, and Latinos are traditionally even lower naturalizers. Low naturalization leaves non-citizens vulnerable to political underrepresentation, restrictions on travel and employment, discrimination, and removal. Interviews with 34 Dominican-born residents of New York and New Jersey seek to illuminate reasons for not naturalizing. Important reasons include the expense and unfriendliness of the procedure and past bad experience with the immigration agencies. Respondents also, to a surprising degree, regarded even dual nationality as an assault on their Dominican identity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/stp-159/foreignborn.pdf.

  2. http://www.uscis.gov.

  3. Since Yang’s study, the relationship between years of education and naturalization has probably disintegrated completely. A Massey and Akresh (2006) survey showed no relationship between income or education, and announced intention to settle permanently in the United States.

  4. All our respondents have been given fictitious names to protect their privacy.

  5. Documentation of these legal generalizations may be found in the Appendix.

  6. Only one of the subjects in our interviews expressed fear of removal as a reason for his failure to naturalize. None expressed fear that future criminal convictions might make them removable, or expressed concern about inadmissibility. We are unaware of specific studies on immigrants’ ability to estimate the chance that they will be deported; we rely generally on social psychological literature on risk estimation.

  7. Other studies have found voting to be more salient. The National Latino Immigrants Survey in 1989 found desire to vote to be the most commonly given reason for the decision to naturalize, and political participation is generally associated with naturalization (Pantoja and Gershon, 2006).

References

  • Acosta, Y.D. and G.P. de la Cruz . 2011. The Foreign-born from Latin America and the Caribbean 2010. American Community Survey Briefs 10/15. U.S. Census Bureau.

  • Alba, R. and V. Nee . 2003. Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Aleinikoff, T.A . 2000. Between Principles and Politics: The Direction of U.S. Citizenship. In From Migrants to Citizens: Membership in a Changing World, eds. T.A. Aleinikoff and D. Klusmeyer, 119–174. Washington DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez, R.R. 1987. A Profile of the Citizenship Process among Hispanics in the United States. International Migration Review 21 (2): 327–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aneesh, A . 2006. Virtual Migration: The Programming of Globalization. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Appadurai, A . 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, B.C . 2007. Trends in Naturalization Rates, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, Fact Sheet (December 2007), http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_natztrends_fs_2008.pdf.

  • Bloemraad, I . 2006. Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brotherton, D . 2008. Exiling New Yorkers. In Keeping Out the Other: A Critical Introduction to Immigration Enforcement Today, eds. D.C. Brotherton and P. Kretsedemas, 161–178. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bueker, C.S . 2005. Political Incorporation among Immigrants from Ten Areas of Origin: The Persistence of Source Country Effects. International Migration Review 39 (1): 103–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham, W.D . 1987. The Turnout Problem. In Elections American Style, ed. A.J. Reichley, 97–133. Washington DC: Brookings Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caro-López, H. and L. Limonic . 2010. Dominicans in New York City 1990-2008. Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies, Graduate Center, City University of New York.

  • Cornwell, D.D.F . 2006. Naturalization Rate Estimates: Stock vs. Flow. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, Policy Directorate, Fact Sheet (November 2006).

  • Dominican Today. 2011. Dominican Republic’s Population is 9,378, 818. (9 March). http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2011/3/9/38841/Dominican-Republics-population-is-9378818.

  • Duncan, N.T. and B.S. Waldorf . 2009. Becoming a US Citizen: The Role of Immigrant Enclaves. Cityscape: A Journal of Policy Development and Research 11 (3): 5–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escobar, C . 2006. Dual Citizenship and Political Participation: Migrants in the Interplay of United States and Colombian Politics. In Latinos and Citizenship: The Dilemma of Belonging, ed. S. Oboler, 113–141. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foner, N . 2005. Transnationalism Old and New. In In a New Land: A Comparative View of Immigration, 62–88. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbertson, G . 2006. Regulating Transnational Citizens in the Post-1996 Welfare Reform Era: Dominican Immigrants in New York City. In Latinos and Citizenship: The Dilemma of Belonging, ed S. Oboler, 91–112. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbertson, G. and A. Singer . 2003. The Emergence of Protective Citizenship in the USA: Naturalization among Dominican Immigrants in the Post-1996 Welfare Reform Era. Ethnic & Racial Studies 26 (1): 25–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gryn, T.A. and L.J. Larsen . 2010. Nativity Status and Citizenship in the United States 2009. American Community Survey Brief 09-16 (October 2010), www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/acsbr09-16.pdf.

  • Jasso, G . 2011. Migration and Stratification. Social Science Research 40 (5): 1292–1336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones-Correa, M . 1998. Between Two Nations: The Political Predicament of Latinos in New York City. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones-Correa, M . 2001. Under Two Flags: Dual Nationality in Latin America and its Consequences for Naturalization in the United States. International Migration Review 35 (4): 997–1029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones-Correa, M . Unpub. The Prior Socialization of Immigrants and Their Political Participation in the United States.

  • Kanstroom, D . 2007. Deportation Nation: Outsiders in American History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasinitz, P., J.H. Mollenkopf, M.C. Waters and J. Holdaway . 2008. Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostakopoulou, D . 2003. Why Naturalisation? Perpectives on European Politics and Society 4 (1): 85–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, J . 2011. U.S. Naturalizations 2010. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics (April), http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/natz_fr_2010.pdf.

  • Levitt, P . 2001. The Transnational Villagers. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitt, P . 2007. Dominican Republic. In The New Americans: A Guide to Immigration since 1965, eds. M.C. Waters and R. Ueda, 399–411. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang, Z . 1994. Social Contact, Social Capital, and the Naturalization Process: Evidence from Six Immigrant Groups. Social Science Research 23 (4): 407–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, A . 1997. Presidential Address: Unequal Participation: Democracy’s Unresolved Dilemma. American Political Science Review 91 (1): 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan, J.R., S. Oh and J. Darrah . 2007. Individual and Community Effects on Immigrant Naturalization, http://paa2007.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=70997.

  • Louie, V . 2006. Second Generation Pessimism and Optimism: How Chinese and Dominicans Understand Education and Mobility through Ethnic and Transnational Orientations. International Migration Review 40 (3): 537–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D.S. and I.R. Akresh . 2006. Immigrant Intentions and Mobility in a Global Economy: The Attitudes and Behavior of Recently-arrived U.S. Immigrants. Social Science Quarterly 87 (5): 954–971.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzolari, F . 2011. Naturalization and Its Determinants Among Immigrants from Latin America: The Role of Dual Citizenship Rights. In Latinos and the Economy: Integration and Impact in Schools, Labor Markets, and Beyond, eds. D.L. Leal and S.J. Trejo 133–150. New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, K . 2011. Caribbean Immigrants in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. (April), http://www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?ID=834.

  • Motomura, H . 2006. Americans in Waiting. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murguía, J. and C. Muñoz . 2007. From Immigrant to Citizen. In Securing the Future: US Immigrant Integration Policy, A Reader, ed. M. Fix Washington DC: Migration Policy Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, A. and J. Batalova . 2011. Naturalization Trends in the United States. Migration Policy Institute (22 June). http://www.ilw.com/articles/2011,0812-neilsen.shtm.

  • Nisbett, R.E. and T.D. Wilson . 1977. Telling More than We Can Know: Verbal Reports on Mental Processes. Psychological Review 84 (3): 231–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • North, D.S . 1987. The Long Grey Welcome: A Study of the American Naturalization Program. International Migration Review 21 (2): 311–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pantoja, A.D . 2005. Transnational Ties and Immigrant Political Incorporation: The Case of Dominicans in Washington Heights, New York. International Migration 42 (4): 123–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pantoja, A.D. and S.A. Gershon . 2006. Political Orientations and Naturalization among Latino and Latina Immigrants. Social Science Quarterly 87 (5): 1171–1187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paral, R . 2010. Benchmarks of Immigrant Civic Engagement. Prepared for Carnegie Corp. of NY, http://www.robparal.com/downloads/RPA%20report%20to%20The%20Carnegie%20Corporation.pdf.

  • Picot, G. and F. Hou . 2011. Divergent Trends in Citizenship Rates among Immigrants in Canada and the United States. Statistics Canada, Social Analysis Division, Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper.

  • Portes, A., C. Escobar and R. Arana . 2008. Bridging the Gap: Transnational and Ethnic Organizations in the Political Incorporation of Immigrants in the United States. Ethnic and Racial Studies 31 (6): 1056–1090.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A. and R.G. Rumbaut . 2006. Immigrant America: A Portrait, 3rd edn. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rytina, N . 2008. The Timing of Naturalization in the United States through 1996: The Experience of the Legal Immigrant Cohorts of 1977 and 1982. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics Working Paper, August 2008.

  • Saxenian, A.L . 2006. The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D., J. Wykes, S. Jayarajah and T. Fabijanic . 2010. Citizenship in Australia. Australian Government, Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M.P. and M. Bakker . 2008. Citizenship across Borders: The Political Transformation of El Migrante. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spiro, P.J . 2008. Beyond Citizenship: American Identity after Globalization. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Saillant, S. and R. Hernández . 1998. The Dominican Americans. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres-Saillant, S. and R. Hernández . 2013. Dominicans: Community, Culture, and Collective Identity. In One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-first Century, ed. N. Foner 223–245. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. American Factfinder. http://factfinder2.census.gov.

  • Van Hook, J., S.K. Brown and F.D. Bean . 2006. For Love or Money? Welfare Reform and Immigrant Naturalization. Social Forces 85 (2): 643–666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 2011. Dominican Republic. http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/dominicanrepublic, accessed 18 June 2013.

  • Yang, P.Q . 1994. Explaining Immigrant Naturalization. International Migration Review 28 (3): 449–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge helpful comments from Sofya Aptekar, Irene Bloemraad, Kaye Deaux, Nancy Foner, Jose Itzigsohn, Michael Jones-Correa and Marco Medellin; participants in the Immigration Law Teachers Workshop, May 2010 (especially Linda Bosniak, Mathilde Cohen, Jayesh Rathod, Peter Spiro, and Rick Su); participants in the Immigration Policy Seminar, Rutgers University School of Law, Spring 2009; and an anonymous reviewer. Ryan Womack of the Rutgers libraries helped us with census data. None is responsible for our errors. Thanks also to Stephen Lee, who asks good questions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sidney Reitman Scholar Rutgers University School of Law, New Jersey

    Alan Hyde

  2. Deputy Attorney General, State of New Jersey

    Ray A Mateo

  3. Campus Director, Freedom Prep Charter School, Camden, New Jersey

    Bridgit Cusato-Rosa

Authors
  1. Alan Hyde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ray A Mateo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bridgit Cusato-Rosa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

1Distinguished Professor and Sidney Reitman Scholar, Rutgers University School of Law, Newark. Readers picking up an article written by an academic and two of his students might naturally assume that the ideas were the professor’s, and the students were research assistants. Nothing could be further from the truth here. When the senior author introduced the topic of low US naturalization rates in a seminar on immigration policy, his intention was to stress the unfriendliness of US procedures. The junior authors, students in the seminar, pushed this study into the realm of identity, and psychological and emotional reasons for not naturalizing.

2This article reflects research undertaken when Mr Mateo was a law student and in no way represents any official policy of the State of New Jersey.

Appendix

Appendix

Legal advantages to US citizenship status

This appendix documents the legal generalizations mentioned in note 7. As compared with lawful permanent residents, US citizens have at least the following five legal privileges:

They may sponsor more relatives for immigration. Non-citizens who are permanent resident aliens may sponsor only spouses or children admitted with them, INA Sec.203(d), 8 USC Sec 1153(d), and after-acquired spouses and unmarried sons or daughters, 203(a)(2), 8 USC Sec 1153(a)(2), and only as permitted by global and country quotas. They have no access to the favored “immediate relative” category, which permits admission without regard to quotas, 201(b)(2)(A)(i), 8 USC Sec 1151(b)(2)(A)(i), and have no ability at all to sponsor parents or siblings. Several of our respondents were well aware of this, mentioning getting a visa for their mothers as a reason to naturalize.

They have access to a greater range of public employment and benefits. The federal civil service is limited to US citizens and nationals, Exec. Order No 11935. States may bar non-citizens from teaching, Ambach v. Norwick, 441 US 68 (1979), or law enforcement, Cabell v. Chavez-Salido, 454 US 432 (1982), though the states where most Dominicans live have not done so. Lawful permanent residents who do not naturalize within 7 years are cut off from federal supplemental Social Security and state payments to the aged, blind and disabled, Khrapunskiy v. Doar, 909 N.E.2d 70 (NY 2009).

They have greater access to private employment, because, in general, employers are often permitted to discriminate in favor of US citizens. Most public and private employers are prohibited from discriminating in favor of citizens against lawful permanent residents, but this protection extends only to lawful permanent residents who apply for naturalization within 6 months of the date when they first become eligible to do so. INA Sec. 274B(a), 8 USC Sec. 1324b(a). Most of our respondents – like most Dominicans in the United States, permanent residents who have not naturalized – are thus not protected and may lose job opportunities to citizens. Several respondents believed that such lawful discrimination occurs – several mentioned jobs to which unions control access – but we have been unable to locate reliable data.

They may come and go as they please. A lawful permanent resident who has been absent from the United States for over 180 days is treated on return as if he or she were seeking “admission” to the United States, subject to any of the many bars on admissibility. INA Sec 101(a)(13)(C)(ii), 8 USC Sec 1101(a)(13)(C)(ii).

They may not be deported. See generally Kanstroom (2007). Over 400,000 non-citizens were deported from the United States in 2012, a record high (www.ice.gov/removal-statistics/). In a typical year, over a million additional non-citizens are permitted to depart “voluntarily” in lieu of formal removal. As recently as 1986, there were only 2000 deportations annually. Over 3000 Dominican residents of the New York City area are involuntarily deported annually (Brotherton, 2008, 161).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hyde, A., Mateo, R. & Cusato-Rosa, B. Why don’t they naturalize? Voices from the Dominican community. Lat Stud 11, 313–340 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2013.15

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2013.15

Keywords

Search

Navigation