Immigrants Are Becoming U.S. Citizens at Fastest Clip in Years
The New York Times
The government has reduced a backlog of applications that built up during the Trump administration. New citizens say they are looking forward to voting in November.
The federal government is processing citizenship requests at the fastest clip in a decade, moving rapidly through a backlog that built up during the Trump administration and the coronavirus pandemic.
At ceremonies in courthouses, convention centers and sports arenas across the country, thousands of immigrants are becoming new Americans every week — and becoming eligible to vote in time for the presidential election this fall.
It’s unclear how many of the new voters live in battleground states, but a number of the states where Kamala Harris or Donald Trump must win have large and growing numbers of voting-age naturalized citizens, including Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
In Savannah, Ga., people from 19 countries streamed into a federal courthouse recently to take the oath of allegiance.
“My case was done in less than six months,” said Gladis Brown, who is married to an American and emigrated from Honduras in 2018.
Generally, lawful permanent residents, known as green-card holders, are eligible to become naturalized citizens if they have had that status for at least five years, or have been married to a U.S. citizen for at least three years.
