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Immigrant Inclusion & Racial Justice

December 2012

By Manuel Pastor and Justin Scoggins

Please note: reports dated earlier than June 2020 were published under our previous names: the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) or the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII).

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.

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Citizen Gain: The Economic Benefits of Naturalization for Immigrants and the Economy
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    Immigrant Integration & Racial Justice

    Our work on immigrant integration and racial justice brings together three emphases: scholarship that draws on academic theory and rigorous research, data that provides information structured to highlight the process of immigrant integration over time, and engagement that seeks to create new dialogues with government, community organizers, business and civic leaders, immigrants and the voting public to advance immigrant integration and racial equity.

    Economic Inclusion & Climate Equity

    In the area of economic inclusion, we at ERI advance academic theory and practical applications linking economic growth, environmental quality, and civic health with bridging of racial and other gaps; produce accessible and actionable data and analysis through the data tools; and establish research partnerships to deepen and advance the dialogue, planning, and actions around racial equity, environmental justice, and the built environment.

    Social Movements & Governing Power

    ERI’s work in the area of governing power includes: conducting cross-disciplinary studies of today’s social movements, supporting learning and strategizing efforts to advance dialogues among organizers, funders, intermediaries, evaluators, and academics, and developing research-based social change frameworks and tools to inform—and be informed by—real-world, real-time efforts towards a vision of deep change.

    Publications Directory

    In 2020, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) merged to form the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI).

    The full list of publications published under our previous and current names can be found in our publications directory.

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