From Latin American Immigrant to "Hispanic" Citizen: The Role of Social Capital in Seeking U.S. Citizenship

In: Social science quarterly, Volume 81, Issue 4, p. 1053-1063

Abstract

Burgeoning citizenship rates in the past five years are attributable to an increased propensity to naturalize among more recent cohorts from developing countries, particularly from Latin America. We evaluate the intention to naturalize for a key subgroup of Latin American immigrants: those who adjusted to legal status via the main legalization program of the 1986 Immigration Reform & Control Act (IRCA). We merge 3,117 responses from the 1989 & 1992 waves of the Legalized Person Survey (LPS) with a data set we have constructed on characteristics of the 83 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in which the respondents resided. We then estimate the probability of an LPS respondent expressing the intention to seek US citizenship. Our analyses indicate that social capital repertoires, measured as linkages to a variety of home & host country institutions, have significant effects on the likelihood that Latin American immigrants intend to become US citizens, with capital & social investments in sending communities reducing those intentions, & capital & social investments anchored in the US enhancing naturalization aspirations. While financial & social investments in the home country reduce the odds of intending to naturalize for IRCA beneficiaries, financial & social connections to the US are substantial & facilitate the plan to become US citizens. These aspirations are further facilitated by the ways in which Latin American immigrants are situated in geographic space in metropolitan US communities. 2 Tables, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.