2012

By Manuel Pastor and Justin Scoggins
December 2012

Citizenship offers new Americans broader civic engagement opportunities and government benefits, but little publicized are the gains to both immigrants and the nation that come from this shift in status.

Citizen Gain: The Economic Benefits of Naturalization for Immigrants and the Economy made this case, finding that citizenship alone can boost individual earnings by 8 to 11 percent, leading to a potential $21-45 billion increase in cumulative earnings over ten years that will have ripple effects on the national economy.

Given the mutual gains to immigrants and the nation, Citizen Gain identified several barriers to citizenship and offered best practices to encourage naturalization. They include government lowering the fees for naturalization, community groups and banks partnering to offer microloans to ease the fees, businesses offering workplace English language courses, municipalities promoting citizenship, and more.

Downloads:

• Full report
  
• 3-pager
• Information sheet
• Results by state