Why Don't Unauthorized Immigrants Become United States Citizens? They Can't Kate Morrissey - Union-Tribune
go to original April 8, 2017

The Story of Trump's First Deportee: Guadalupe Garcia's only crime was using a false social security number to work for her family. Now she is back in her hometown in Mexico without her children. (teleSUR English)

As the media features more and more non-citizens facing deportation under President Donald Trump, readers sometimes react by puzzling over why longtime residents never became U.S. citizens.

“If she has been here 25 years, why has she not applied for citizenship?” asked Derrick Shoemake on Facebook in response to coverage by The San Diego Union Tribune about a deported grandmother.

Patti Hamlin similarly commented, “She had over 25 years to become legalized... yet she didn't.”

And Ralph Gapol said, “teaches her to get her citizenship.”

Unauthorized immigrants generally have no way to “become legalized” — which is why some advocates have advocated for an overhaul of U.S. immigration laws to create a path to citizenship.

Foreign nationals must first be granted a green card — or legal permanent residency — before they can apply for citizenship. Most unauthorized immigrants don’t qualify for green cards, and for non-citizens who are eligible for green cards, the waits can be decades long.

The majority of green card holders have to wait five years before they can even apply for citizenship. Those who are married to U.S. citizens can apply three years after they receive their green cards.

“Realistically, for your average situation, there’s nothing,” said Ginger Jacobs, a local immigration attorney. “There’s no way to become a citizen unless you’re a permanent resident first.”

Read the rest at Union-Tribune

Related: Trump Voters Continue to Be Shocked When Their Immigrant Friends Get Deported (Mic)

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