"For centuries, countless immigrants, including the 3.5 million that today call New York City home, have brought culture, ideas, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit to neighborhoods across the five boroughs, building communities and embedding themselves in the social fabric of the city.

It is a great and proud accomplishment for all immigrants to become citizens of the country where they live and contribute. Of the 670,000 legal residents in New York eligible for naturalization, 217,000 live in Queens, 208,000 in Brooklyn, 117,000 in The Bronx, 106,000 in Manhattan and 19,000 in Staten Island.

However, as a new report from my office finds, the costs of achieving citizenship have soared in recent years, creating significant barriers for many of the city's legal permanent residents throughout the five boroughs. Since 1989, the citizenship application fee through the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) has spiked from $60 to $680 -- an increase of 500 percent accounting for inflation."

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