Nigerians and other immigrants are becoming U.S. citizens at the fastest rate in a decade, as the U.S. government accelerates the processing of citizenship application backlogs accumulated during former President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to The New York Times, citizenship applications are now being processed in under five months, a pace comparable to 2013 and 2014. Backlogs caused by Trump’s restrictive immigration policies persisted throughout his four-year term.
Since President Joe Biden took office, an estimated 3.3 million immigrants from Nigeria and other nations have been granted American citizenship.
Upon assuming office, Biden issued multiple executive orders to reverse Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, aiming to “restore faith” in the legal immigration system.
One of Biden’s orders called for a significant reduction in naturalization processing times, with the goal of improving the integration of new Americans.
With less than two months left in the 2024 fiscal year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services now processes naturalization applications in an average of 4.9 months, a dramatic improvement from the 11.5 months recorded in fiscal 2021.
Green-card holders can apply for U.S. citizenship after five years of residency, or three years if married to an American citizen. While they share most of the same rights as U.S. citizens, green-card holders cannot vote in federal elections.
As the 2024 U.S. presidential election approaches, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump likely to face off, the growing number of newly naturalized citizens may have a significant impact on the election outcome in key states
