New study ranks Filipinos third in highest rates of naturalized US citizens

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – For some Filipinos the gold paved roads of the American Dream leads through here at the public library where hundreds of Asians residents spent their day filling out the 21-page-form and reviewing tests to become U.S. citizens.

Groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ) hold these workshops year round throughout the country with local community groups assisting aspiring citizens with the lengthy application process.

“Ang laki talaga kasi ako hindi masyado nakaka intindi daan. Nakaka basa pero hindi ko masyado na intindian kaya,” said Elena Quilbio. “It’s so long.”

“We know that not everybody is eligible for citizenship,” said Mark Yoshida, a senior staff attorney for AAAJ. “We’re trying to help as many people as we can.”
There’s no slowing down for these workshops. In recent years Asian migration has outpaced Latino and more of them are becoming naturalized American citizens.

A study released by New American Media and the National Immigration Forum shows that 47 percent of people living in America are naturalized citizens.

The rate of Asians who naturalize were higher with 59 percent.

At 76 and 74 percent respectively, Vietnamese and Taiwanese immigrants had the highest rates of naturalized U.S. citizens while Filipinos came in third at 68 percent.

Asian Americans represent one of the fastest growing populations and despite the high naturalization rates community leaders want to emphasize that the citizenship comes with great responsibilities like being engaged and making their voices heard especially at the ballot boxes.

“We’re very focused on civic engagement where it’s not just people becoming citizens but also registering to vote, and voting and really knowing the issues and knowing about elected officials to really have a say in what happens in the future,” said Yoshida.

It’s something that these aspiring citizens hope to be a part of.

“Kung pwede ako bumoboto ako. Bumoboto ditto mga Quran,” said Quilbio.

But as they say, actions speak louder than words. Data by the Pew Research numbers show that nine million Asian Americans were eligible to vote in 2014 but since 1998 only about a third have actually hit the ballot boxes.