Executive Summary The proportion of all legal foreign-born residents who have become naturalized U.S. citizens rose to 52% in 2005, the highest level in a quarter of a century and 15 percentage point increase since 1990, according to an analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center. The population of naturalized citizens reached 12.8 million in 2005, a historic high that reflects both a rise in the number of legal migrants and an increased likelihood that those who are eligible apply for citizenship. As a result of these combined trends, the average number of naturalizations annually has increased from fewer than 150,000 in the 1970s to more than 650,000 since the mid-1990s. By 2005 (the last year for which figures are available), naturalized citizens accounted for slightly more than one-in-two (52%) legal foreign-born residents. Among all 36 million foreign-born residents in 2005, naturalized citizens made up a slim plurality (35%) over legal non-citizens (33%) and unauthorized migrants (31%). In 1995, legal non-citizens had accounted for a near majority (47%) of the 24 million foreign-born residents who were in the country at the time, compared with 30% who were naturalized citizens and 20% who were authorized migrants.
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