By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 18, 2017: As the Donald Trump administration and his congressional supporters look to lower the number of legal residents admitted through family sponsorship into the U.S., new Department of Homeland Security data analyzed by News Americas show that when it comes to naturalization among Caribbean immigrants, nationals from the Dominican Republic are the leaders this fiscal year.
DHS data show a whopping 11,129 immigrants from the DR choose to become naturalized citizens for Fiscal Year 2017, allowing them a chance to vote in future elections.
They were followed by Cubans with 10,281 taking the oath of US citizenship in the 2017 fiscal year.
Other Caribbean nationals lagged behind significantly on naturalization rates this year. Jamaicans were the third largest group with 5,493 followed by Haitians at fourth with 4,848.
Only 1,703 Guyanese became US citizens this past fiscal year while just 1,666 Trinidad & Tobago nationals took the leap to rank them at fifth and sixth, respectively for the region.
The numbers were significantly less for other countries as follows:
Belize – 328
St. Lucia – 256
Barbados – 225
Dominica – 202
Grenada – 214
The Bahamas – 178
St. Vincent & The Grenadines – 157
Antigua & Barbuda – 126
St. Kitts & Nevis – 120
Suriname – 42
