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immigrationA Latino advocacy group reports that Latinos make up close to half of America's newest citizens, The Associated Press (AP) reports. A total of 461,317 Latinos became U.S. citizens in the fiscal year 2008, close to half of the country's 1,046,539 new citizens, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO). That's a 58 percent increase in the number of Latinos who took the oath in the previous year.
The group's report is based on statistics released by the Department of Homeland Security on the number of new citizens from predominantly Spanish-speaking countries. The department partially credited a campaign by Latino media and community groups for the high number of Latinos becoming citizens. By far, the largest number of new Latino citizens, a total of 231,815, originally came from Mexico, with 39,871 originating from Cuba. Most the new citizens live in California and Florida.
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