Becoming a citizen

This Census map from 2000 shows the percentage of foreign-born in each neighborhood who have become naturalized citizens: Note that the areas with the lowest percentage of naturalization (tan and yellow) are also the neighborhoods with the highest percentage of foreign-born.

Here are the numbers for all of Elgin. In 2000 we had 6,059 naturalized citizens. Six years later we added another 1,400 voters through naturalization to arrive at 7,458.

Non-citizens totalled 16,199 in 2000 and grew to 19,964 in the ACS six years later.

Like learning English, naturalization is an indicator of assimilation. Part of the equation is how long they've been in the country. (It takes time to qualify and prepare for citizenship.) But Duke University created an assimilation index and factored in "time in country." Here's a link to their study results: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_53.htm

They measured civic, cultural, and economic assimilation with fascinating results.

The top five source countries on the assimilation index were:
Germany
Panama
Czechoslovakia
Austria
Italy

The bottom five source countries on the assimilation index were:
Nepal
Mexico
Guatemala
Honduras
Cameroon

I've learned that assimilation is a touchy subject, but the objective indicators aren't looking good in Elgin.