Wednesday, November 8, 2017

The piece of research that I've decided to choose deals with explaining immigrant naturalization or to put it more colloquially, obtaining citizenship. My research paper topic talks about programs and policies that have been or can be set up to help mitigate the effects, indirectly and directly, of deportation and the pressure immigrants feel while here in the United States. First off, it is important to state that not everyone who is capable of naturalization does so. There are still fears and consequences that lie in the journey itself. The questions guiding the analysis of this research are, what conditions influence immigrants' propensity to become naturalized U.S. citizens? How do immigrants' individual characteristics and larger social contexts affect their propensity to naturalize through the perceived costs , benefits and meaning of naturalization? The collection to test the proposed hypothesis' was obtained from the 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 1980 U.S. census data. It is also important to note that although naturalization has its perks e.g. the right to vote, to run for political offices (except president and vice president), the right to a passport (to travel and return to the U.S.), and a broader range of jobs, it also entails certain costs. These costs include increased obligations to the host country (for example in times of war, you must serve is needed), reduced political/social rights in your country of origin, voluntarily denouncing allegiance to their former country and providing allegiance to the host country with oath (which is more psychologically damaging then it sounds), lastly a long and complicated application process. To become a citizen one of the requirement you must fulfill is to have continuously resided in the U.S. for at least 5 years. The factors that come into play when an immigrant is pondering naturalization range through a variety of individual characteristics and larger social contexts. Individualistic variables deal with whether or not the immigrant has children or not so that the children can bypass the process and become citizens as well), if they are homeowners, if they are married or have been married, if they have served in the armed forces, if they are emigrating from a socialist country and if they have intentions of helping their family members emigrate (citizens may sponsor their married or unmarried adult children and their siblings). The age at which one naturalizes also comes into play because the young don't understand the complex' of citizenship so they may not feel the need to naturalize but as they mature into working ages, their propensities increases, yet as they mature even further into old age the propensity declines because of the work load and benefit they could enjoy for only a limited time. The study also reveals that woman have a higher propensity to want to become citizens than man because of the need to be free from repressive marriages and the drive for a better occupation. Social contexts that deal with whether an immigrant should naturalize or not include if they reside farther away from their country of origin, into what type of community the submerse themselves in (urban communities have been shown to assist tremendously due to the sizable support of other ethnic groups), and whether the host country provides dual citizenship to the applicant (they get to take advantage of the benefits of their host country without giving up privileges and identity in the country of origin). This research matters not only because do we get insight at the deterrents that might or might not hold an immigrant back from naturalization but we get to discover and formulate our own methods about how to help mitigate and/or help better the well being of an immigrant residing within fear within the states. 

As soon as someone from a community gets deported, others start to notice. Deportation creates fear amongst a community, while more pressin...