[dragonwriter]

Legally, they are not; naturalized citizens are Americans, permanent resident aliens remain aliens.

There's certainly an argument to be made that they concept of a “permanent resident alien” is a an elaborate circumlocution for “disenfranchized citizen”, and that permanent residence and citizenship ought to be intrinsically linked (not saying I necessarily agree, but I've certainly seen a reasonable argument made), but there is a difference between ought to be and is.