An estimated 13.1 million LPRs lived in the United States on January 1, 2013, and 8.8 million of them were eligible to naturalize. The majority (63 percent) obtained LPR status in 2000 or later. — DHS estimate
Between 2013 and 2015, another 3,058,102 people became legal permanent residents (LPRs), more commonly known as getting a “green card”. Over that same period 2,329,509 LPRs became US citizens. Those statistics are from the 2015 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics.
You are eligible to become a US citizen five years after you obtain a green card (three years if your spouse has been a citizen for three years). That means anyone holding a green card on January 1, 2013 would be eligible by Jan 1, 2018. That is roughly 13 million people.
The Trump administration’s executive order barring entry of LPRs to the US came as a shock to most, who thought their place in this country was secure. Though the administration reversed itself, Democrats should strike now and encourage all 13 million green card holders to apply for US citizenship right away. We need to make this a political issue and push for additional funding, help those eligible become citizens, and then register to vote.
Why? Because we could use 13 million newly naturalized Democrats right about now.
Democrats need to make this a political fight right now, because the anti-immigrant agenda of Steve Bannon is working overtime to paint non-European immigrants as “others” who aren’t “real Americans”.
It needs to be a Congressional battle because if all 13 million apply over the next two years, that would require a six to nine-fold increase in the DHS’s capacity to naturalize citizens.
What if all eligible LPRs had been citizens and had voted in 2016? If as we suspect, they were to lean towards Democrats, it could have made a difference in Florida, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
|
LPRS |
LPR % |
ELIGIBLE |
ELIGIBLE % |
TRUMP WIN MARGIN |
TOTAL |
13,140,000 |
100% |
8,790,000 |
100% |
|
CA |
3,310,000 |
25.2% |
2,440,000 |
27.8% |
|
NY |
1,650,000 |
12.6% |
1,050,000 |
11.9% |
|
TX |
1,320,000 |
10.1% |
950,000 |
10.8% |
806,000 |
FL |
1,260,000 |
9.6% |
830,000 |
9.5% |
113,000 |
NJ |
600,000 |
4.5% |
360,000 |
4.1% |
|
IL |
540,000 |
4.1% |
370,000 |
4.3% |
|
MA |
330,000 |
2.5% |
200,000 |
2.3% |
|
VA |
280,000 |
2.2% |
160,000 |
1.9% |
|
WA |
280,000 |
2.1% |
180,000 |
2.0% |
|
GA |
250,000 |
1.9% |
150,000 |
1.7% |
212,000 |
AZ |
250,000 |
1.9% |
180,000 |
2.0% |
89,000 |
MD |
250,000 |
1.9% |
140,000 |
1.6% |
|
PA |
250,000 |
1.9% |
140,000 |
1.6% |
44,000 |
MI |
210,000 |
1.6% |
130,000 |
1.5% |
10,304 |
NC |
160,000 |
1.2% |
90,000 |
1.1% |
173,000 |
CT |
160,000 |
1.2% |
110,000 |
1.2% |
|
OH |
150,000 |
1.1% |
90,000 |
1.0% |
447,000 |
CO |
150,000 |
1.1% |
90,000 |
1.1% |
|
NV |
130,000 |
1.0% |
90,000 |
1.0% |
|
MN |
130,000 |
1.0% |
70,000 |
0.8% |
|
OTHER |
1,470,000 |
11.2% |
960,000 |
10.9% |
|
Here are the statistics on how many petitions DHS has processed recently:
Year |
Petitions
Filed |
Persons Naturalized |
Petitions
Denied |
Total |
Civilian |
Military2 |
Not Reported |
2015 |
783,062 |
730,259 |
720,645 |
7,234 |
2,380 |
75,810 |
2014 |
773,824 |
653,416 |
642,431 |
7,468 |
3,517 |
66,767 |
2013 |
772,623 |
779,929 |
769,073 |
6,652 |
4,204 |
83,112 |
2012 |
899,162 |
757,434 |
745,932 |
7,257 |
4,245 |
65,874 |
2011 |
756,008 |
694,193 |
677,385 |
8,373 |
8,435 |
57,065 |
2010 |
710,544 |
619,913 |
604,410 |
9,122 |
6,381 |
56,994 |
2009 |
570,442 |
743,715 |
726,043 |
7,100 |
10,572 |
109,832 |
2008 |
525,786 |
1,046,539 |
1,032,281 |
4,342 |
9,916 |
121,283 |
2007 |
1,382,993 |
660,477 |
648,005 |
3,808 |
8,664 |
89,683 |
2006 |
730,642 |
702,589 |
684,484 |
6,259 |
11,846 |
120,722 |
2005 |
602,972 |
604,280 |
589,269 |
4,614 |
10,397 |
108,247 |
2004 |
662,796 |
537,151 |
520,771 |
4,668 |
11,712 |
103,339 |
2003 |
523,370 |
462,435 |
449,123 |
3,865 |
9,447 |
91,599 |
2002 |
700,649 |
572,646 |
550,835 |
1,053 |
20,758 |
139,779 |
2001 |
501,643 |
606,259 |
575,030 |
758 |
30,471 |
218,326 |
2000 |
460,916 |
886,026 |
812,579 |
836 |
72,611 |
399,670 |