Antonio Cabral, of Framingham, at his job at African Express in Ashland. A Brazilian native, he has applied for naturalization. Daily news and Wicked Local Staff photo/Art Illman

By Bill Shaner, MetroWest Daily News
June 16, 2016

In the first quarter of the year, citizenship application rates in Massachusetts and around the country, have skyrocketed. Local experts have tied the rise, in part, to the presidential campaign and the devisive immigration rhetoric of Donald Trump.

From January through March, the most recent data available, the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services received 7,994 applications from offices in Massachusetts, a roughly 30-percent increase over the 6,141 received in the last quarter of 2015. Applications are up 35 percent over this time last year.

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