Source: Immigration Impact
A new report from the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) discusses current issues with the US immigration system and proposes changes to solve those issues. CMS found that although “about 1.2 million undocumented residents live with 1.1. million eligible-to-naturalize relatives,” the administration is making it more difficult for individuals to naturalize. For example, the application fee for naturalization is currently $725, but USCIS has proposed a rule that would increase the fees to $1,170. The report makes recommendations to solve these challenges such as lowering the cost of naturalization applications and decreasing the backlog of pending applications. See here.
Despite efforts to make naturalization a more difficult process, the study shows that the percentage of naturalized citizens, with respect to income levels, education levels, and homeownership, either equals or exceeds that of the native-born population. The data collected proves that “legal non-citizens are better off than undocumented [individuals], and the naturalized population is on an equal footing with native-born citizens. ”
The American Immigration Council states, “The United States should be helping people become citizens—not forcing them into a limbo that prevents full participation in the strengthening of American communities.”