Citizenship eluding many in Utah

Roughly 31 percent of Utah's estimated 167,395 foreign-born residents were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2003, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau.

There were an estimated 52,590 naturalized citizens in Utah in 2003, according to the report on the nation's foreign-born population from the American Community Survey.

While more recent population estimates for 2004 have been released, the new report breaks down the information on the foreign-born population into demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

The census survey ranked Utah No. 10 in its noncitizen, foreign-born population and also No. 10 in its share of Central American population, largely from Mexico.

It suggested that noncitizens tended to lag behind their citizen counterparts — naturalized and native — in earnings and education.

Nationally, some 21 percent of noncitizens lived in poverty, compared to an estimated 9 percent of U.S.-born and naturalized citizens. Naturalized citizens' median income was $36,427, compared to $23,876 for non-U.S. citizens, and $36,659 for U.S.-born citizens.

Pam Perlich, senior research economist at the University of Utah, said the national data are consistent with what she's seen in Utah, where an overwhelming majority of new immigrants tend to be young adults working in low-wage, low-skill jobs.

"The longer someone has been in the U.S., the higher the wages," Perlich said. "If you've been here 30 years . . . you're established, you've learned the language, you've worked your way up."

Also, living in the United States longer makes you more likely to be a citizen. In general, an individual must be a permanent resident for five years in order to apply for citizenship, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

USCIS reports that Mexico is Utah's No. 1 nation of origin for naturalized citizens, followed by Bosnia, Vietnam, China and Canada.

Perlich said one reason for Utah's low citizenship count could be the newness of its foreign-born population, which boomed during the '90s. Many of Utah's new immigrants aren't working toward citizenship, either because they're here on temporary visas or are undocumented, she said.

Utah's immigrant population grew by more than 100,000 during the 1990s, from 58,600 to 158,664 in 2000, Perlich said. That growth was driven largely by Latin American immigration, primarily from Mexico, she said.

Robert Spendlove, director of demographics and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget, contrasted Utah to Maine, the state with the highest rate of naturalized citizens. More than half of that state's foreign-born population entered the nation before 1980.

The annual census survey of 800,000 to 900,000 households excluded the population living in institutions, college dormitories and other group quarters.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com