50,000 Indians took US citizenship in 2017: official report
Washington, Oct 19 : Over 50,000 Indians were granted the American citizenship in 2017, four thousand more than the previous year, according to the latest official report.
The Department of Homeland Security in its latest annual immigration report said that in 2017, as many as 50,802 Indians took citizenship of the United States.
This is four thousand more than 2016's figure of 46,188 Indian naturalization and eight thousand more than 42,213 Indian citizenship in 2015.
In all, 707,265 foreign nationals took the oath of American citizenship in 2017, as against 753,060 in 2016 and 730,259 in 2015.
Mexico with 118,559 citizenships topped the list among all foreign nationals. India was a distant second, followed by China (37,674); the Philippines (36,828); Dominican Republic (29,734); Cuba (25,961).
Figures indicated that more females (396,234) took American citizenship than male (310,987).
The report indicates that as many as 12,000 newly naturalized American citizens from India settled in California, followed by New Jersey (5,900), and Texas about 3,700.
More than 7,100 naturalized Americans lived in the regions of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
