Citizenship Beyond Reach

Author:	NCLR
Contact:	Olga Medina and Marisabel Torres
Date:	Sep 11, 2009
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Related
Topic:	Immigration
Program:	Civic Engagement
Policy:	Naturalization

Summary

While our country aspires to achieve the full integration of immigrants into American society, undue barriers on the path to naturalization threaten this national goal and place it out of reach for many eligible immigrants. The nature of these barriers is varied, ranging from the inadequate availability of English-language classes to the lack of both accurate information and assistance for immigrants to navigate this process. This paper focuses on the cost of the naturalization application fee, which has become a prominent barrier to citizenship for many eligible applicants.