The waiting period for naturalization and citizenship was set at 5 years in 1790 and reaffirmed in 1802 (according to Perplexity).
One can easily argue that in that era the need for more people to build a strong economy and nation was far greater than the need for more people today, despite declining birth rates. One surmises that the period was set at a mere 60 months and that naturalization imparted full citizenship due to the need to attract more people.
The US (and the world) is a far different place in 2025. There is no demonstrable need for massive numbers of immigrants; yet there are those who believe that it should be available to any and all who arrive on these shores. Early immigrants took real risks and endured the same travails as did citizens. Today, immigrants take no real risks. The welfare net, private charities, and NGOs assure them of survival sustenance today. That was not the case prior to the 20th Century.
I disagree.
In the early days of the nation, there was no welfare system. Today, the US is a welfare state. It is the attraction of those welfare benefits that draws immigrants. In the early days of the nation, assimilation was so imminently necessary that there is little evidence in the historical record that it was not universal. Today, the welfare immigrants do not assimilate . . . at least not in the manner and numbers that were the case for 200 years. This failure to assimilate means that immigrant cluster in ethnic communities and propound and support the values and culture of their native lands and even attack the values and cultures of the US. Case in point: “little mogadishu” in Minneapolis and the $8 BILLION in fraud recently in the news. There are other instances that could be cited (mandami’s election in NYC attributed to recent immigrants, et alia).
That immigrant communities s have brought some benefits, culinary diversification probably chief most. But, they also put at risk the very values that built the US into the premier nation in the world. Islamists want to make Sharia Law a part of US law, for instance (there are many other such points).
To stem the current trend and to make assimilation more attactive, the US should change its policies wrt naturalied citizenship.
I propose the following:
- First, limit the rights of naturalized citizens
- Deny the right to hold political office at any level
- Deny the right to vote in any election
- Deny all government sponsored transfer payments (all forms of welfare) to non-citizens either directly or through NGOs. Leave that to privately funded charities.
- Stop birthright citizenship by requiring that it be given only to offspring of native-born and naturalized citizens.
The US Constitution should be amended to make these changes because politicians cannot be trusted to preserve and protect American cultural, moral, and economic values.