Two-thirds of Legal Mexican Immigrants are not U.S. Citizens

The Path Not Taken

Nearly two-thirds of the 5.4 million legal immigrants from Mexico who are eligible to become citizens of the United States have not yet taken that step. Their naturalization rate—36%—is only half that of legal immigrants from all other countries combined, according to a Pew Hispanic Center analysis of federal government data. A nationwide survey of Hispanic immigrants by the Center finds that nearly all (93%) who have not yet naturalized say they would if they could. But barriers such as a lack of English proficiency and the financial cost of naturalization are identified as reasons why many legal immigrants have not yet done so.

Related:

Report: A Nation of Immigrants
Data: Statistical Portrait of the Foreign Born, 2011
Report: Unauthorized Immigrants: 11.1 Million in 2011
Report: Net Migration from Mexico Falls to Zero

02.15.13

A Statistical Portrait of U.S. Hispanics

The nation’s Hispanic population reached 52 million in 2011, an increase of 48% since 2000, according to a Pew Research Hispanic Center analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 American Community Survey. Today, Hispanics make up 17% of the nation’s population, up from 13% in 2000. In addition, the share of the Hispanic population that is foreign born is now 36%, down from 40% in 2000.

Related:

Report: Statistical Portrait of Hispanics in the United States, 2011
Slideshow: U.S. Hispanic Population Trends

Report: Statistical Portrait of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States, 2011
Slideshow: U.S. Foreign-Born Population Trends

Immigration

Trends in migration flows, the characteristics of the foreign-born population and attitudes towards immigration policy issues.

Politics

Reports and public opinion surveys examining the changing electoral participation and views of Latinos.

Election Fact Sheets: Data on the size and social and economic characteristics of the Hispanic and non-Hispanic eligible voter populations. 2012 | 2010 | 2008
Interactive: Mapping the Latino Electorate
The Latino Vote in the 2010 Elections
The Latino Electorate in 2010:
More Voters, More Non-Voters

Identity

The Pew Hispanic Center recently published “When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and their Views of Identity,” a report based on a nationwide survey that found most Hispanics don’t embrace the term “Hispanic.” And even fewer prefer the term “Latino.”

We then invited journalists, scholars and civic leaders to share their views about identity.