CITIZENSHIP Introduction
There is a process to become a naturalized citizen of the United States of America. This process is known as the Naturalization Process. N400 applications for naturalization forms are controlled and managed by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. Once citizenship is obtained, you, as a citizen of the After obtaining citizenship, you, as a American citizen will have rights that include:
- Right to vote in elections
- Right to participate in federal programs (i.e. Social Security)
- Right to a US passport
- Ability to qualify for security clearances
Immigration to the united states of america
Back in the late 1800s, in many parts of the world people decided to leave their homes and immigrate to the United States of America. Leaving behind the crop failures, land shortages, job shortages, increasing taxes, and in many cases, famine. They came to Amerca because it was known as the land of economic opportunity. Some came looking for greater personal freedoms and some for relief from political and religious persecution. Invigorated with the hope of a brighter future, almost 12 million immigrants arrived between 1870 and 1900. During the 1870s and 1880s, most of the immigrants were German, Irish, English.
Immigrants came to the United States through several ports. European immigrants generally entered through the East Coast facilities and Asian immigrants generally came through centers on the West Coast. 70 percent of immigrants, however, entered through the facilities in New York City. Throughout the late 1800s, immigrants in New York entered at the Castle Garden depot near the tip of Manhattan until 1892 when the government opened the immigration processing center on Ellis Island in New York harbor.