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Immigrant Inclusion & Racial Justice

September 17, 2014

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).

The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), and the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) has released Citizenship: A Wise Investment for Cities on the civic, economic, and social benefits of naturalization in American cities.

“America’s mayors are realizing that they can and should act now to encourage naturalization and 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.” — Manuel Pastor, CSII Director

Immigrants’ earnings are estimated by CSII to increase 8 to 11 percent after naturalization, and the report highlights many beneficial ripple effects on the broader economy.

In the report, we highlight that 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.

For additional information, visit cc4citizenship.org.

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Citizenship: A Wise Investment for Cities

Read our other publications by research area

    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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