U.S. Naturalization

The Economist's recent Daily Chart depicts the number of naturalizations that occurred over the past decade in a handful of countries.  The graph also displays the proportion of each country's population that is foreign born.


The nations that naturalized the most citizens were the United States, Russia, and Canada. With a figure of 6.6 million, the United States naturalized the most citizens from 2001-2010. Russia comes in second, with about half as many naturalizations at 3.1 million people, while Canada follows with just under 2 million naturalized citizens in just as many years. Other countries with more than a million naturalized immigrants are Britain, France, and Germany.

However, the countries that naturalized the most immigrants are not necessarily the ones whose populations have the greatest proportion of foreign born people.  For example, while the United States conferred citizenship on 6.6 million individuals in the past decade, immigrants only account for 13% of its total population.  On the other hand, Australia and Switzerland naturalized 1 million and about 0.4 million people, but both their foreign born populations constitute 27% of the total population, the most of any countries depicted in the graphic.  Countries with other high proportions of foreign born people are New Zealand (23%), Canada (20%), Spain (15%), and Sweden (15%).

Obama Loses Latino Approval with Rise in Deportations

The majority of Latinos in the United States oppose the way in which the Obama administration is addressing the deportation of illegal immigrants, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center.   

Since 2009, under President Obama, deportations have increased to an annual average of 400,000.  This represents a 30% increase in annual average of deportations since the second term of the Bush administration and is almost double the annual average of deportations during the first term of the Bush administration. 

A vast majority (81%) of the 11.2 million immigrants in the United States without authorization are of Hispanic origin.  Individuals of Hispanic origin constitute an even larger percentage of deported unauthorized immigrants, with 97% of those deported in 2010 identifying as having Hispanic origin. 

Not all Latinos are cognizant of the increase in deportations during Obama's presidency.  A little over a third of Latinos polled (36%) responded that the Bush administration deported about the same number of immigrants as the Obama administration deports currently.  Fewer than half of the Latinos polled reported knowledge of the increase in deportations under the Obama administration; 41% claimed that deportations had increased during Obama's presidency.

Foreign-born Hispanics are much more likely than native-born Hispanics to be aware of the increase in deportations since Obama assumed office.  Whereas 55% of foreign-born Hispanics were aware of this trend, only 25% of native-born Hispanics were.  Awareness of the increase in deportations is most prevalent among Hispanic individuals who have greater chances of being deported.  Almost three-quarters of Hispanic immigrants who do not have United States citizenship or a green card, a population with a high risk of being deported, are aware that deportations have increased under the Obama administration.

Those who disapprove of Obama's policy are likely to be those who are aware that deportations have increased under the Obama administration.