Answer:
Starting in the 1700's when the United States established not every person was a citizen but only free white men were citizens. Indian Americans and African American were not a citizen of the United States.
The question of citizenship was very important during that time because that created conflicts in society. People who are not citizens or immigrants work on low wages and faces unemployment problems. Immigrants were accused for crime, poverty and civil unrest.
So, to get value or position in society it was important for immigrants to get citizenship.