The second randomly assigned a set of behavioral nudges, similar to outreach efforts used by service providers, among immigrants whose incomes were low enough to qualify them for a federal waiver that eliminates the application fee. The first randomly assigned a voucher that covers the naturalization application fee among immigrants who otherwise would have to pay the full cost of the fee. The study tested two programmatic interventions among low-income immigrants who are eligible for citizenship. study of policy interventions that address these constraints. Drawing on data from a public/private naturalization program in New York, this research provides a randomized controlled.

Yet we lack reliable knowledge as to what constrains immigrants from applying. In the United States, however, naturalization rates are relatively low. Tracking a series of thefts as brazen as the art heists in Provenance and a subculture as obsessive as the oenophiles in The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Blanding has pieced together an unforgettable story of high-stakes crime.Citizenship endows legal protections and is associated with economic and social gains for immigrants and their communities. The Map Thief interweaves Smiley’s escapades with the stories of the explorers and mapmakers he knew better than anyone. Now, through a series of exclusive interviews with Smiley and other key individuals, Blanding teases out an astonishing tale of destruction and redemption. Moreover, although Smiley swears he has admitted to all of the maps he stole, libraries claim he stole hundreds more-and offer intriguing clues to prove it. Though pieces of the map theft story have been written before, Blanding is the first reporter to explore the story in full-and had the rare privilege of having access to Smiley himself after he’d gone silent in the wake of his crimes. The Map Thief delves into the untold history of this fascinating high-stakes criminal and the inside story of the industry that consumed him.Īcclaimed reporter Michael Blanding has interviewed all the key players in this stranger-than-fiction story, and shares the fascinating histories of maps that charted the New World, and how they went from being practical instruments to quirky heirlooms to highly coveted objects. Forbes Smiley spent years doubling as a map thief -until he was finally arrested slipping maps out of books in the Yale University library. Once considered a respectable antiquarian map dealer, E. But to those who collect them, the map trade can be a cutthroat business, inhabited by quirky and sometimes disreputable characters in search of a finite number of extremely rare objects. Maps have long exerted a special fascination on viewers-both as beautiful works of art and as practical tools to navigate the world. The story of an infamous crime, a revered map dealer with an unsavory secret, and the ruthless subculture that consumed him

The Map Thief by Michael Blanding