Last year, one million people received US green cards, China ranked fifth in the world

Last year, one million people received US green cards, China ranked fifth in the world, "Hawaii Reporter" website said that the latest data released by the US Department of Homeland Security showed that last year, about 100...

Last year, one million people received US green cards, China ranked fifth in the world. The "Hawaii Reporter" website stated that the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security showed that about 1 million people became U.S. citizens last year and more than 1 million people obtained green cards. This data shows that the number of new green card holders and naturalized citizens has been quite stable in the past few years, with a slight increase in the number of naturalized citizens last year. Claire Bergeron, a researcher at the Center for Immigration Policy Research, attributes the increase in naturalization to the 2012 presidential election. "Ahead of the presidential election, there are many group efforts to urge people to naturalize, and this year we've seen a lot of large-scale efforts from Latino groups. Latino voters, including many new citizens, helped re-elect President Obama and strengthened his Democratic Party in Congress," she said. A total of 757,434 people naturalized as citizens in 2012, up from 694,193 the year before, according to newly released data. The top five countries of origin for the number of new citizens are: Mexico, Philippines, India, Dominica and China. Among them, 31,868 Chinese citizens were naturalized as U.S. citizens. Between 2011 and 2012, immigrants born in Dominica and Cuba saw the largest increases in the number of naturalized immigrants. Vietnam, South Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Nigeria and Somalia rank among the top 20 countries of origin of naturalized persons. Among European countries, only the United Kingdom and Ukraine rank in the top 20. A growing number of members of Congress are calling for consideration of “regularizing” the 11.5 million illegal immigrants. But its approach and the length of time it will take are the focus of fierce bipartisan debate in Congress. Last year, the United States issued green cards to 1,031,631 foreign citizens. This allows them to live and work in the United States permanently and become U.S. citizens after five years. Mexico, China and India are the top three source countries of permanent residents. People from Iraq, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Ethiopia are in the top 20. Most green card holders have already lived in the United States. Nearly 66% of people receive green cards because of family ties to a U.S. citizen or another green card holder. The system for determining who gets a green card is a complex process. Generally speaking, priority is given to family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and to foreigners with employment skills needed by U.S. businesses. Some immigration reformers have suggested creating a new green card category for illegal immigrants, while others oppose what they see as an "amnesty" for lawbreakers. Erwin DeLeon, an immigration expert at the Urban Institute, a Washington-based research group, said new data trends will emerge over the next decade as Congress now works on immigration reform. "If Congress passes immigration reform this year or next year," he said, "by 2020 you will see a big spike in the number of permanent residents and new citizens." "Claire Bergeron said that some people suggest that non-naturalized immigrants wait 10 years before becoming legal immigrants, and wait another 5 years before naturalizing as Americans.