Millions of Immigrants Could Apply for Citizenship, But Haven’t

More than 8 million immigrants in the U.S. are eligible to apply for citizenship, but many of them have never taken the first step toward becoming a U.S. citizen.  Some cite the high cost of applying ($680 in government fees, plus the cost of a lawyer), others worry that they don’t speak English well enough to pass the citizenship test.  Only 36 percent of Mexicans with Legal Permanent Resident status actually become naturalized U.S. citizens.  That’s significantly below other groups including Cubans, Indians and Europeans.  In this podcast Fi2W’s John Rudolph attempts to unravel the citizenship riddle with Julissa Gutierrez, Acting Director of National Programs and Community Relations at the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, and Mark Hugo Lopez, Director of the Hispanic Research Center at the Pew Research Center in Washington DC." - FI2W, Apr. 28, 2014.