Question about US citizenship.

[VLC98]

Hopefully one of the many incredibly intelligent people here will be able to answer this for me, as I've been googling with no success. I would like to know when going through the US citizenship procedure (application, swearing in etc) became a requirement. I'm assuming that the immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, in the early 1900's, were considered citizens as soon as they'd gone through "customs", if they called it that then. Does anyone have any knowledge on this subject?
Thanks in advance.

[Mikimouse]

1. My parents came in through Ellis Island in 1950...

sp I can only comment on that time frame. They were required to live in the US for 7 years before they could become citizens and had to go through a swearing-in process.

[VLC98]

5. I didn't know Ellis Island was functioning in 1950.

I wonder if your parents were some of the last immigrants to come through there? I have visited Ellis Island but obviously didn't pay enough attention. It was a long time ago, and I can only remember my 2 year old (now 17) burning her hand on a radiator in the museum.

[supernova]

2. You do have to pass a test and attend a swearing in ceremony

I don't know how long you have to have been a resident of the US though.

Edit: Here's the gov't FAQ

http://uscis.gov/graphics/faqsgen.htm#naturalization

[VLC98]

3. Thanks for responding.

I think you misunderstood my question. I know that nowadays immigrants have to go through quite a complicated process to become a citizen, as I am considering it myself. I'm just curious about the history of US citizenship. I want to know when, and possibly why, it became necessary to pledge allegiance at a ceremony etc. Perhaps it was something to do with the first or second World War?

[REP]

4. Don't Know About The Ceremony

But in doing genealoical research, I went through quite a few 19th century census rolls, and there was a column, starting in the early 1800s, for year arrived and year naturalized.

[VLC98]

7. Thanks, that's interesting.

Can you look at census rolls online, and without having to pay? What was the average amount of time between the immigrant arriving and becoming naturalized?

[REP]

8. Some Are Free

And can't give you general info; I was researching my family, who began coming here in 1608.

[Solly Mack]

6. This might help you

http://www.cis.org/articles/cantigny/fonte.html
"patriotic assimilation."

[VLC98]

12. Thanks Solly.

I enjoyed reading that. Not too date specific, but it did surprise me to read that there was a Naturalization law in 1795!

[Solly Mack]

15. Welcome (more links - past until now)

The history of patriotism and it's rise due to immigration is an interest of mine :)

Govt. Page
http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/

tidbits
http://www.ailf.org/

Unites States Immigration Support (tidbits)

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/


Encyclopaedia of USA History: Immigration to the USA 1860-1960
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAimmigration.htm (background)



Books Which Document the History of Immigration in the U.S.
http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/ethnicstudies/immig_books.html

Changes to law after September 11, 2001
http://www.lawcom.com/immigration/chngs.shtml

[VLC98]

18. Thanks again Solly.

I'm contemplating applying for US citizenship, but it's not an easy decision. I'm put off, mostly by the logistics of having to go to Atlanta, but also because I don't want to denounce my country of birth. I'm also uncomfortable with what I see as forced patriotism in the US, but I have a lot to gain by becoming a citizen. Admitting that makes me feel guilty for being selfish.

[SmokingJacket]

24. I have a relative who's lived here 40 years, and still

isn't a citizen! I think she's nervous about the test. And yes, renouncing her birth country.

[VLC98]

26. That's a long time without a vote.

My sister has lived here since 1986 and isn't a citizen, but she would probably vote Republican anyway, so it's just as well she's not.

[SmokingJacket]

29. So would my relative, so I'm not pressing the issue! nt

[TallahasseeGrannie]

9. I have two frames of reference that might help

My grandfather came in from England in 1876. He was considered a citizen once he got here.

My husband came via airplane from Germany in 1954. He became a citizen in 1958 when his parents passed the tests and took the oaths. His Dad was a German soldier (but a secret Jew.. very interesting story) and he was sponsored by two Jewish doctors in New Jersey. He underwent a rather thorough FBI investigation because he ended up working for Bell Labs.

[VLC98]

14. Was your husband under 18 when his parents became citizens?

I wonder if it works that way nowadays? I take it his Dad was (is?) a smart guy. You must have lots of good tales for your Grandchildren!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

16. Yes, my husband was born in 1950, He was 8. n/t

[leveymg]

10. The process went through a major change in the 1880s when

the federal government created the forerunnner of the present Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS), which grants benefits, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which rounds up and deports the undocumented.

Until the last decades of the 19th Century, immigrants freely entered the U.S., and applied to courts for citizenship (naturalization). In 1882, the first exclusion laws were passed, denying citizenship to Chinese nationals. That particular ground of excludability was eventually overturned by the courts. Nonetheless, after that the list of excludable groups continued to grow longer and longer, until today there are some four dozen or so grounds to deny citizenship and authorizing the Immigration authorities to arrest, detain and deport non-citizens.

In 1907, Congress mandated that prospective citizens had go through a period of probationary status, called permanent residence ("green card" status). Until the 1950s, immigrants could apply to courts for naturalization, but the whole process was taken over by a giant federal bureaucracy, then called the Immigration & Naturalization Service.

Today, the process of becoming a citizen -- from entry as a non-immigrant visitor or worker to obtaining a green card to being sworn in as a naturalized US citizen takes many years. The paperwork is technically difficult and lawyers are expensive. The numbers of immigrant visas allocated by Congress are entirely inadequate to meet the demand. The resulting delays and high costs of becoming a citizen are the primary reason there are so many undocumented people living in this country. Even people with doctorate degrees now have to wait years to get a green card.

If your great grandparents had to deal with the obstacles in place today, you'd probably be living in the "old country" or, if you were really enterprising, you'd have entered through a hole in the wall and would be dealing with the harsh realities of life in America as an "illegal alien."

There's even a bill submitted by Republicans to strip children born in the US of undocumented parents of their US citizenship and to deny them education and basic social services. The immigrant exclusionists are quickly creating a permanent underclass.

[VLC98]

17. Are you an immigration lawyer?

You sound like you know your stuff! The part about immigrants applying to the courts for naturalization until the 1950's is what interests me. Am I right in thinking this would be local courts, bearing in mind that travel in those days was more difficult than now? I wonder why they felt it necessary to change that? I have had my green card since 1989 and have lived in the US for about 9 years in total, 7 consecutive years to date. I have no problem with residency requirements, in addition I would like to see automatic citizenship for people living here legally for, let's say, 20 years. I do have a problem with having to go to a major US city (for me Atlanta), to be treated like a cow in a herd at a swearing-in.

I expect Republicans would like to strip my kids of their citizenship as they were born in the UK, with their Dad as their claim to citizenship AND I'm raising them to be Democrats!

[Nye Bevan]

19. I recently acquired citizenship

and I wouldn't say I was treated like a cow in a herd. The ceremony was actually quite moving, dignified and inspiring. There were 61 people in the courtroom becoming naturalized, the judge was *very* friendly, seemed to be enjoying herself very much, and even posed for photographs with anybody who wanted to when she presented them with their certificates.

Of course a few months prior to this I needed to do the interview and the citizenship test. You need to answer 6 out of 10 questions correctly, but I got the first 6 right, which were-

1. who was the primary author of the declaration of independence?
2. who elects congress?
3. what is the 49th state?
4. who wrote the Star Spangled Banner?
5. what is the Bill of Rights?
6. which country did the US fight against in the Revolutionary War?

all pretty easy as I had practiced on the CIS internet site beforehand.

[VLC98]

20. Thanks for responding.

Did you have to go far for your test and ceremony? If you don't mind me asking, what did they ask at the interview and was it just one interviewer?

[Nye Bevan]

21. Test was in Hartford, CT

about 1 hr from me. Ceremony was federal courthouse in Bridgeport, 10 minutes away. At the interview they ask if you have been arrested, committed any crimes, persecuted people because of their national origin, been a member of the Communist Party, been a habitual drunkard, etc. Also if you have paid your taxes, voted, are willing to bear arms on behalf of the US. It's pretty easy to answer all of these questions correctly, of course, and the only potentially tricky part is the history/civics test which you can practice on the internet. (By the way, even though the internet practice test is multiple-choice, the real test is not).

The interviewer was just one person (in a Dilbert style cube). He even made a jibe about missing WMDs when we got to the bearing arms part!

[VLC98]

22. Thanks for the helpful advice.

Especially the bit about the test questions not being multiple choice. About the bearing arms part, do you know if you're allowed to say that you're a conscientious objector without being disqualified?

[Nye Bevan]

23. "USCIS may exempt you from these requirements"

What if I am against fighting in the
military because of my beliefs? If,
because of your religious teachings and
beliefs, you are against fighting or serving
in the military, USCIS may exempt you
from these requirements. You will need
to send a letter with your application
requesting a modified oath and explaining
why you are unable to take the Oath as it is
written above.

Changes to the Oath. You may
take the Oath, without the
words “to bear arms on behalf of
the Unites States when required
by law...” if you provide enough
evidence that you are against
fighting for the United States
because of your religious
training and beliefs.
If you provide enough evidence
and USCIS finds that you are
against any type of service in
the Armed Forces because of
your religious training and
beliefs, you may leave out the
words “to perform noncombatant
service in the Armed Forces of
the United States when required
by law.”

see http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/natz/English.pdf

[VLC98]

27. Thanks again.

It's nice to have helpful people on DU to do your research :) I don't know how I'd get around the bearing arms thing, as my objection has nothing to do with religion. I'll have to think hard about it, but I doubt I'll become a citizen.

[radwriter0555]

25. Strange Factoid of the Day: Hospitals are considered Ports of Entry in the

US, since, if you're born there, you've entered the USA.

Go figure.

Don't remember where I found that nugget.

[phusion]

30. True...

If you're born anywhere on US soil, aren't you a citizen automatically?

[LostinVA]

11. Nope. My GGF came from Italy in 1915

He was considered a legal immigrant (what we would call having a green card now). He never became a US citizen because he was illiterate. My GGM, who came over in 1919, did become a citizen in the late 50's.

[leveymg]

13. Make that the 1907 Immigration Act, not the 1917 amendment.

... 1913, based upon a provision of the Immigration Act of February 20, 1907 (note12) ... Lawfully resident aliens who desire to proceed to the mainland, ...

http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/LS31.htm

[trackfan]

28. I think it has always been a long process

My paternal grandfather - who, among all my grandparents, was the first to become a U.S. citizen, was in this country about nine years before he was naturalized. I'm not sure if any of my other grandparents EVER became citizens.

[VLC98]

31. Interesting point.

In post #11, LostinVA said her GGF never became a citizen, so perhaps it was common. It just didn't occur to me that some immigrants never became citizens. How could they bear to pay taxes and not vote, I wonder?

[RedCloud]

32. Having my baby, what a lovely way of sticking to the INS

The old loophole, should anyone need it.

[leveymg]

33. Having a baby gives you no right to remain in the US. Your child can

can petition for you when s/he reaches 21, but until then, you can be removed, and you may not have any basis to contest that.