On March 1, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services welcomed 50 new citizens at a special citizenship ceremony at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice’s Great Hall. U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Tom Perez delivered keynote remarks, and USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas will administer the Oath of Allegiance.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants choose to become American citizens by taking the Oath of Allegiance at naturalization ceremonies across the United States and overseas.
Here are the Citizenship Statistics:
2001-2010: During this decade, the United States welcomed more than 5.6 million new citizens, including more than 744,000 people during fiscal year 2009 and more than 138,000 in the current fiscal year. Since September 2001, USCIS has assisted more than 55,000 members of the military to become naturalized U.S. citizens.
1991-2000: Approximately 5.6 million individuals became U.S. citizens during this period,
doubling the number from the previous decade. The late 1990s also marked another shift in
naturalization demographics, with those of Mexican decent yielding the most naturalized citizens, followed by Vietnamese and Filipinos.
1981-1990: Nearly 2.3 million people were naturalized during the 1980s, nearly half of whom
came from Asia. Together, Canada and Mexico accounted for more than one quarter of the
remaining new citizens.
1971-1980: The United States welcomed approximately 1.5 million new citizens during the 1970s. The Philippines, Cuba, and China were the leading countries of origin. This trend represented a shift from the 1960s, when the largest number of new citizens came from Europe. An estimated 66,000 members of the U.S. military were naturalized during this decade.
1908: The United States naturalized approximately 25,975 individuals.
1907: The United States naturalized approximately 7,941 individuals.