Full Citation

Title: Determinants of refugee naturalization in the United States

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2018

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1802711115

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Abstract: The United States operates the world's largest refugee resettlement program. However, there is almost no systematic evidence on whether refugees successfully integrate into American society over the long run. We address this gap by drawing on linked administrative data to directly measure a long-term integration outcome: naturalization rates. Assessing the full population of refugees resettled between 2000 and 2010, we find that refugees naturalize at high rates: 66% achieved citizenship by 2015. This rate is substantially higher than among other immigrants who became eligible for citizenship during the same period. We also find significant heterogeneity in naturalization rates. Consistent with the literature on immigration more generally, sociodemo-graphic characteristics condition the likelihood of naturalization. Women, refugees with longer residency, and those with higher education levels are more likely to obtain citizenship. National origins also matter. While refugees from Iran, Iraq, and Somalia naturalize at higher rates, those from Burma, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Liberia naturalize at lower rates. We also find naturalization success is significantly shaped by the initial resettlement location. Placing refugees in areas that are urban, have lower rates of unemployment , and have a larger share of conationals increases the likelihood of acquiring citizenship. These findings suggest pathways to promote refugee integration by targeting interventions and by optimizing the geographic placement of refugees. immigration | refugees | integration | naturalization | resettlement T he United States operates the world's largest refugee resettlement program, having resettled over 3 million refugees since 1975. While resettlement provides humanitarian protection and the chance to begin a new life, refugees nevertheless face significant challenges after arrival. Many arrive having experienced trauma and interrupted education and lacking knowledge concerning English and American culture. While refugees frequently experience significant psychological and physical hardship in their origin countries, they are also likely to encounter discrimination, lack of opportunity, and poverty within their new environment (1-3). The challenges that refugees face after arrival provide clear incentives for governments and nongovernmental organizations to facilitate refugees' adaptation to life in the United States. However, these barriers to integration also raise questions for policymakers. Every year, policymakers decide how many refugees to admit, from which sending countries, and where to send them in the United States. Although these decisions are primarily made on the basis of humanitarian need, expectations concerning whether refugees will be able to attain self-sufficiency and integrate into American society also play a role in shaping the contours of the program (4, 5). Moreover, whether refugees successfully integrate can be expected to influence public support for refugee resettlement. However, despite the scale and salience of the resettlement program and the policy challenges that surround it, policymakers and scholars currently lack reliable data on the degree to which refugees succeed in adapting to life within the United States. Refugee outcomes are limited to short-term employment indicators and are only directly tracked by refugee resettlement agencies for the first 90-180 d, after which refugees and their families are expected to transition to economic self-sufficiency. The scattered data that exist after this initial period largely consist of anecdotal evidence, convenience samples (6), or imputed data from partial population surveys (7, 8). None of these sources permits a direct and accurate portrait of the degree to which refugees integrate into American society. The lack of data on long-term integration outcomes is concerning from a policy perspective. It means that policymakers cannot learn from past successes or failures and harness this evidence in the design of refugee programs. Knowledge of outcomes would also permit policymakers to directly identify subpopulations of refugees who require targeted support or to implement innovations that could improve long-term integration outcomes. The absence of systematic evidence on integration outcomes also increases the challenge of maintaining political support in hosting communities. To address this evidence gap, we draw on linked administrative data to provide a systematic analysis of the long-term integration of refugees within the United States. We focus on naturalization, which the scholarly literature has identified as a key measure of the political, civic, and social integration of immigrants. In contrast to previous approaches, we directly measure naturalization rates using administrative data maintained by the Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) at the Department of Homeland Security. These data span the complete population of refugees resettled in the period between 2000 and 2010, and include background characteristics as well as linked naturalization outcomes. Citizenship is widely regarded as an important milestone of immigrant integration, and naturalization rates are commonly Significance Despite the scale of the US refugee resettlement program, policymakers and the public lack systematic information on how refugees adapt to their new environment. We focus on natu-ralization as a key measure of integration and draw on administrative data to provide direct estimates of the naturalization rates among refugees. Our results show that, on average, refugees acquire citizenship faster than other lawful permanent residents. We also identify the set of factors that promote or constrain naturalization among refugees. These findings have implications for policymakers seeking to improve the integration of refugees within the United States.

Url: https://www.pnas.org/content/115/37/9175

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Authors: Designed Research; N, J H M

Periodical (Full): PNAS

Issue: 37

Volume: 115

Pages: 9175-9180

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration

Countries: United States