by Ted Roelofs | The Grand Rapids Press

Tuesday July 21, 2009, 5:55 PM

The multi-hued group gathered Tuesday at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum proved the point: Citizenship is more coveted than ever.

Approximately 80 immigrants from 52 countries as varied as Somalia, Chile and India raised their right hand for the oath of citizenship, as record numbers are doing.

Department of Homeland Security data show the number of immigrants naturalized in the United States grew from about 660,000 in 2007 to more than 1 million in 2008 -- an increase of roughly 58 percent.

A decade ago, about two-thirds of the eligible immigrants who had been in the United States for more than 20 years were naturalized. Now, about three-quarters of such long-term residents have become citizens.

The reasons can be as varied as their immigration stories.

For Somali refugee Hawa Muya, 29, citizenship means the same right will be automatically granted to four of her six children, who were born in a refugee camp in Kenya

"Now they are citizens," said Muya, beaming with pride as she waited for the ceremony to begin.

Muya fled Somalia for the relative safety of a refugee camp in Kenya some 20 years ago, along with tens of thousands of Bantu Africans who faced persecution amid the Somali civil war.

Muya and her husband, Fadil Lugendo, and four of their children remained in the camp until 2003, when they came to West Michigan.

Their quest for citizenship was paved by a couple from Marne who donated money to pay the $1,200 cost of their application fee.

But Muya had another powerful urge pushing her toward citizenship.

"I can vote," she said with a smile.

Analysts trace much of the rise in naturalization to the July 2007 hike in citizenship application costs from $330 to $595.

It also might be tied to the almost 10 million people admitted as legal permanent residents during the 1990s. Although it takes only five years for the holder of a green card to be eligible for citizenship, many wait years longer to take the oath.

To become a citizen, legal permanent residents who are adults, have lived in the United States for at least five years, and can speak English must pass a test demonstrating knowledge of the Constitution, undergo a background check and take an oath of allegiance.

At the same time, the trend for illegal immigrants seems to be heading the opposite direction

The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that the U.S. illegal immigrant population dropped by 11 percent through May 2008 after hitting a peak in August 2007. That means a decline of 1.3 million, from 12.5 million to 11.2 million, as illegal immigrants leave for their native countries.

Experts attribute the drop to a combination of stepped-up workplace enforcement and the widespread decline in the U.S. economy.

But like all those at Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony, Sanaa Al-Shamari, 24, a native of Yemen, came to this country legally.

She joined several other family members when she settled in the Marshall area six years ago, arriving on a visa made possible by the immigration of her father to the United States in 1970

Al-Shamari said she looks forward to voting, as she explained in broken English the rights for women she has found in America that are lacking in her homeland.

"The women, she have freedom and she have rights," Al-Shamari said. "The law is by her side."

E-mail Ted Roelofs: troelofs@grpress.com