Laying Down Roots: The Power of Citizenship

“This is the place for me. This is the place I want to lay down roots. And this is the place that I want to contribute.”

Sambou Makalou, Naturalized Citizen

Laying Down Roots: The Power of Citizenship

Laying Down Roots is a short film exploring how naturalization benefits individuals, communities, the U.S. economy, and American democracy. The video features four naturalized Americans and researchers who study what changes for immigrants and their communities when they achieve U.S. citizenship.

Naturalized U.S. Citizens

Karlene Maxwell-Williams

Karlene Maxwell-Williams came to the U.S. from Kingston, Jamaica on a green card. She became a citizen so that she could petition for her husband and spare her children, who were not yet 18, the long wait to naturalize. When she noticed things in her city that she wanted to change, a friend told her to run for office. She is now a city commissioner in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida and the lead citizenship coordinator for the Florida Immigrant Coalition.

Alfonso Alvarez

Alfonso Alvarez came from Puebla, Mexico in the 1980s. He started by washing dishes in New York City restaurants, then became a “salad man,” then a line cook, before opening his own taqueria, the first in Yonkers, NY. He opened a total of five restaurants. He remembers the exact amount he paid to apply for citizenship: $190.

Sambou Makalou

Sambou Makalou was four years old when his father took a post at the International Monetary Fund and moved the family to the United States. He has since founded six companies. When he describes what citizenship means, he talks about laying down roots.

Zeke Hernandez

Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez was born in Uruguay and came to the U.S. on a student visa. He met his wife and, years later, found himself with an American family and a decision to make. He studies the economics of immigration and is a professor of management at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Data and Research

Naturalization provides many benefits and protections, such as the right to vote and run for office, the ability to reunite with family members, and protection from deportation. Studies from the Urban Institute and the University of Southern California find that naturalization raises individual earnings between 8 and 11 percent, lifts employment rates, and increases homeownership by more than six percentage points.

But the benefits of U.S. citizenship extend beyond individuals. Across 21 cities studied by the Urban Institute, naturalizing every eligible immigrant would generate $5.7 billion in earnings and employment gains and over $2 billion in tax revenue. U.S. citizenship encourages new citizens to invest in homes, businesses, and their neighborhoods. Naturalization also builds the confidence and sense of belonging that allow immigrants to lay down their roots, strengthening their communities and the country.

A list of research and sources is available here.

Scholars and Experts

Bill Ong Hing

Professor of Law and Migration Studies, University of San Francisco School of Law; founder of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)

David Dyssegaard Kallick

Director, Immigration Research Initiative (IRI), a nonpartisan think tank focused on the economic, social, and cultural inclusion of immigrants in the United States

Megan Dias

Post-Doctoral Associate, Brooks School of Public Policy, Cornell University

Zeke Hernandez

Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; author of The Truth About Immigration

Laying Down Roots was produced by the New Americans Campaign, a national initiative led by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, dedicated to increasing the number of people who become U.S. citizens.

Field production and photography by Gail Ablow.

Video editing by Lani Balansag, Stacey Lo, and Randy Palacios of the Neta Collab team.

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