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LIFESTYLE

9% Have Considered Quitting Their U.S. Citizenship

Few Americans have ever thought about giving up their U.S. citizenship, but nearly half think U.S. citizens should be able to be citizens of more than one country.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only nine percent (9%) of U.S. citizens have considered giving up their American citizenship. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Perhaps in part that’s because 93% consider it at least somewhat important to be a U.S. citizen, including 79% who think it is Very Important.

But 45% believe U.S. citizens also should be allowed to be citizens of other countries.  Thirty-six percent (36%) disagree, while 19% are not sure. 

However, in the context of immigration reform, 54% of likely U.S. voters said in March found that potential U.S. citizens should not be allowed to maintain dual citizenship.

Few Americans (4%) who responded to the latest survey say they currently are a citizen of another country.  

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The national survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on September 29-30, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

One-in-four Americans (26%) think it's too easy these days for someone to become a U.S. citizen, while 17% think it’s too hard. Among those who think it’s too easy, 54% don’t think U.S. citizens should be allowed to also be citizens of other countries. Sixty-four percent (64%) who think it’s too hard to become a U.S. citizen support dual citizenship. 

Fifty percent (50%) of Democrats and 46% of adults not affiliated with either political party think U.S. citizens should be allowed to be citizens of other countries.  A plurality (43%) of Republicans disagrees. 

Younger adults are far more likely to favor dual citizenship than their elders are.

Men are more inclined to oppose dual citizenship than women are.

Men are more likely than women to have considered giving up their U.S. citizenship. Democrats are less likely than Republicans and unaffiliateds to have considered it. But sizable majorities across all demographic categories have never given a thought to quitting their U.S. citizenship. 

Eighty-six percent (86%) are proud to be an American. Seventy-four percent (74%) believe Americans should be proud of the history of the United States.

But 49% think the Founding Fathers would view the United States today as a failure. Thirty-four disagree and think they would consider the nation a success. 

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters in this country, however, still believe the United States is more exceptional than other nations.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) think immigration when done within the law is good for America But only 32% believe that if a woman comes to this country illegally and gives birth to a child here, that child should automatically become a U.S. citizen. That’s the lowest level of support for the current U.S. government policy since November 2011.

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The national survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on September 29-30, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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