Amid an immigration crisis affecting Cuba and the entire region, nearly 35,000 immigrants born on the island became American citizens last year. So that informed United States Immigration Service (USCIS).
The total number of Cubans naturalized as Americans during 2023 was 33,200. In fact, Cuba was the fifth applicant country in fiscal year 2023, surpassed only by Mexico, India, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.
Overall, the United States welcomed 878,500 new citizens during the above period. In terms of these statistics, Cuba ranks seventh among nations with the highest average number of years spent as new citizens and legal permanent residents.
The USCIS report shows that “among these countries, applicants from Mexico and Canada spent the most time, at 10.4 years, and applicants from Nigeria the least, at 5.6 years.” Currently, more than 7.7 million naturalized citizens live in the United States.
Naturalization processes in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 accounted for nearly a quarter (24%) of the total enrollments recorded in the 10 most recent years.
Committed candidates
On this topic, USCIS recalls that “the decision to become a US citizen is an important milestone in an immigrant’s life. Candidates for citizenship must demonstrate that they are committed to the unifying principles that unite us as Americans. For that commitment, in turn, they are Americans. shall enjoy the fundamental rights and privileges of citizenship.
During fiscal year 2022, Cuba ranked among the four countries with the most naturalized citizens in the United States. At that stage, migrants still benefited from the defunct “wet feet, dry feet” policy.
Of the 1.3 million Cuban migrants living in the United States, nearly a million have lived or now live in Florida. This was reported by that country’s Migration Policy Institute (MPI).
