Fact Sheet

OCTOBER 2010

Office of Immigration Statistics

POLICY DIRECTORATE

Naturalization Rates among IRCA 

Immigrants: A 2009 Update

BRYAN C. BAKER

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 

1986 provided a path to legal permanent residence and 

citizenship for several categories of unauthorized immigrants. The two primary groups1

 were immigrants who 

had continuously and unlawfully resided within the U.S. 

since before January 1, 1982 (“pre-1982s”) and special 

agricultural workers (“SAWs”), who were required to 

have worked at least 90 days in agriculture during each 

of the years ending on May 1, 1984, 1985, and 1986 

(Group 1) or solely during the year ending on May 1, 

1986 (Group 2). In addition to the residency requirement, pre-1982 IRCA immigrants were required to 

meet certain standards for English proficiency and 

knowledge of U.S. history and government as a prerequisite for legal permanent resident (LPR) status.2

 SAWs 

were not subject to English or civics requirements. This 

Fact Sheet compares the naturalization rates of IRCAlegalized immigrants through 2009 to the naturalization rates of other immigrants who arrived or obtained 

LPR status during the same period.

DATA AND METHOD

The data were obtained by matching administrative 

records of LPRs and naturalizations maintained by the 

Department of Homeland Security. Naturalization rates 

were calculated by dividing the number of LPRs within 

a given category who naturalized before the end of 

20093

 by the total number of LPRs within the same category. Category definitions were based on legal provision (pre-1982 provision of IRCA, SAW provision of 

IRCA, and all other provisions4

) and country of birth 

(Mexico and all others). Records were restricted to 

immigrants 18 years of age and older on the date LPR 

status was obtained to exclude children who may have 

derived citizenship from their parents. 

The naturalization rate for pre-1982s immigrants who 

obtained LPR status in 1989-1991 was compared to the 

rates for other immigrants who obtained status in 

1979-1981 (control group 1) or in 1989-1991 (control group 2). These ranges were selected because most 

(95 percent) of the pre-1982s obtained LPR status in 

1989-1991 and all arrived prior to January 1 1982. The 

naturalization rate for SAWs who obtained status in 

1990-19925

 was compared against the rate for other 

immigrants who obtained status in the same period 

(control group 3). These comparisons were repeated for 

the Mexican-born and again for the non-Mexican-born.

FINDINGS

Nearly 2.7 million persons became LPRs under IRCA, 

including 1.6 million pre-1982s and 1.1 million SAWs. 

By the end of 2009, 1.1 million IRCA immigrants had 

naturalized. The data in Table 1 show that immigrants 

who obtained LPR status through IRCA provisions had 

lower rates of naturalization than immigrants who 

obtained status through other provisions (see Table 1). 

The naturalization rate was 53 percent for pre-1982s, 

compared to 58 percent for other immigrants who 

obtained status in 1989-1991 and 59 percent for other 

immigrants who obtained status in 1979-1981. The 

naturalization rate was 34 percent for SAWs, compared 

to 58 percent for other immigrants who obtained status 

in 1990-1992.

Table 1. 

Naturalization Rates among IRCA Immigrants 

and Control Groups through 2009

Immigrant group

Country of birth

All 

countries Mexico

All other 

countries

Pre-1982 IRCA immigrants and control groups

Pre-1982 IRCA immigrants 53% 46% 68%

Control group 1 (1979–81) 59% 44% 62%

Control group 2 (1989–91) 58% 37% 61%

SAW (IRCA) immigrants and control group

SAW IRCA immigrants 34% 28% 60%

Control group 3 (1990–92) 58% 36% 60%

Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

1 The other categories, Cuban and Haitian immigrants and Registry immigrants, were 

small by comparison and are not discussed in this Fact Sheet. 

2 For a complete list of the requirements and conditions for both pre-82s and SAWs, 

see Sections 210A and 245A of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

3 In this report, year refers to fiscal year (October 1 to September 30).

4 Excludes refugees and asylees.

5 99 percent of SAWs obtained LPR status between 1990 and 1992.
2 DHS Office of Immigration Statistics

Although the rates were lower for IRCA-provision immigrants in 

general, controlling for differences in country of origin demonstrates the prior legal status generalization to be an oversimplification. IRCA immigrants were disproportionately born in Mexico 

(see Figure 1), and naturalization rates have historically been low 

for the Mexican-born (Rytina, 2002, Baker, 2007). Naturalization 

rates were actually higher for pre-1982s than for other immigrants 

when distinguishing between those born in Mexico and those born 

in other countries (46 vs. 37 percent for those born in Mexico and 

68 vs. 61 percent for those born in other countries). Naturalization 

rates for those born in countries other than Mexico were equivalent 

for SAWs and other immigrants (60 percent for both). Among 

those born in Mexico, however, rates were indeed lower for SAWs 

(28 percent) than for other immigrants (36 percent).

CONCLUSIONS

The differences between the naturalization rates of Pre-82s, SAWs, 

and other immigrants, when controlling for Mexican origin, are 

consistent with expectations regarding assimilation. Pre-1982s 

were required to meet certain conditions associated with assimilation prior to obtaining LPR status and had higher rates of naturalization than other immigrants who were not subject to those 

conditions. Non-Mexican-born SAWs were not required to meet 

those conditions and naturalized at about the same rate as other 

immigrants. Mexican-born SAWs had a lower naturalization rate 

than other immigrants, but the group may have included a substantial number of persons who used the program for employment or travel rather than for permanent residence.

REFERENCES

Baker, Bryan C., 2007. “Trends in Naturalization Rates,” Office of 

Immigration Statistics, Policy Directorate, U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security, http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/ 

statistics/publications/ntz_rates508.pdf

Rytina, Nancy, 2002. “IRCA Legalization Effects: Lawful 

Permanent Residence and Naturalization through 2001,” Office 

of Policy and Planning, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization 

Service, http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/ 

publications/irca0114int.pdf

Figure 1.

Percentage of LPRs Born in Mexico, by IRCA Provision

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

SAW (IRCA) immigrants

and control group

Pre-1982 IRCA immigrants

and control groups

IRCA Provision

Control group 3

Control group 2

Control group 1

IRCA