Immigrants are gaining US citizenship at the fastest rate in years: this could affect the presidential election
The federal government has been processing citizenship applications at the fastest rate in the last decade. This reduces the waiting list of people seeking citizenship that has grown during the Trump administration and the coronavirus pandemic. New citizens say they are looking forward to voting in November, writes Miriam Jordan, columnist The New York Times.
Photo: Vadreams | Dreamstime.com
In ceremonies in courthouses, convention centers and sports arenas across the country, thousands of immigrants each week become new Americans and become eligible to vote in this fall's presidential election.
It's unclear how many new voters are living in the contested states, but a number of states where Kamala Harris or Donald Trump are expected to win, including Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania, are growing rapidly in the number of naturalized voting-age citizens.
In Savannah, Georgia, people from 19 countries recently took the Pledge of Allegiance at the federal courthouse.
“My case was resolved in less than six months,” said Gladys Brown, who married an American and emigrated from Honduras in 2018.
Generally, legal permanent residents, known as green card holders, can become naturalized citizens if they have been a green card holder for at least five years or have been married to a U.S. citizen for at least three years.
Green card holders have many rights available to citizens. But voting in federal elections is a right granted only to US citizens. And this can be a powerful motivation for obtaining citizenship, especially on the eve of presidential elections.
“I'm glad I got my citizenship quickly,” said Gladys Brown, who was one of 31 immigrants at the swearing-in ceremony in Savannah. “People like me want to vote in elections.”
After the ceremony, Brown celebrated with cake and punch from a local women's volunteer group and filled out a voter registration form provided by a League of Women Voters representative.
The number of applications for naturalization usually increases sharply in the run-up to elections.
“The surge in naturalization is potentially changing the electorate just months before crucial elections,” said Xiao Wang, CEO of Boundless, a company that uses government data to analyze immigration trends. The company offers services to immigrants who need professional assistance in going through the application process.
“Each citizenship application can bring a vote that will determine Senate seats or even the presidency,” Wang explained.
On the subject: How to prove that you have American citizenship: supporting documents and how to get them
The processing time for applications is less than five months, which is comparable to 2013 and 2014. About 3,3 million immigrants have become citizens during President Biden's time in office.
USCIS took an average of 4,9 months to process naturalization applications in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, compared to 11,5 months in fiscal 2021.
After taking office in 2021, Biden issued an executive order that aimed to roll back his predecessor's hard-line immigration agenda and "restore faith" in the legal immigration system. Among other steps, the order called for action to “substantially reduce current processing times for naturalization applications.”
Unlike many federal agencies, the citizenship agency is funded primarily by fees paid by applicants rather than by congressional appropriations, giving the administration freedom to set its priorities and allocate resources.
The Biden administration began introducing new technology and additional personnel in 2022 to reduce the backlog of citizenship applications. Their numbers have risen sharply during Trump's presidency and due to delays in swearing-in ceremonies related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Biden administration has shortened the naturalization application from 20 to 14 pages. In April, it raised the application fee from $640 to $710, but made it easier for low-income people to qualify for the discount.
While there have long been partisan divisions over how to combat illegal immigration, naturalizing legal residents has received broad bipartisan support. As president, George W. Bush signed an executive order in 2002 to speed up naturalization for non-citizens serving in the military. After leaving office, he himself conducted the swearing-in ceremonies at his institute in Dallas.
But in recent years, the citizenship process has become more politicized.
In an effort to curb legal immigration, the Trump administration has been implementing longer reviews of naturalization applications. Processing times doubled to about 10 months during the Trump administration.
Boundless estimates that because of this delay, approximately 300 potential citizens were unable to naturalize in time to vote in the 000 election.
It is a crime for non-citizens, including legal permanent residents, to attempt to vote in a federal election. Some Republicans, including former President Trump, have spread unsubstantiated stories that Democrats are encouraging illegal immigrants to vote.
According to the latest official data, approximately nine million green card holders are currently eligible to become US citizens. Naturalized Latinos, who make up the largest share of new citizens, have historically leaned Democratic, as have naturalized Asians and Africans, according to Louis DeSipio, a political scientist at the University of California, Irvine, who studies voting behavior.
Citizenship provides benefits and legal protection. Citizens cannot be deported, while green card holders convicted of crimes can be sent back to their country of origin.
The four states with the largest number of immigrants eligible for citizenship are California, New York, Texas and Florida. The main countries of origin of immigrants are Mexico, India, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
While immigrants cite voting rights as an important factor in their decision to naturalize, the reality is that many do not register or vote. In general, naturalized citizens are less likely to register to vote than those born in the United States.
The NALEO Educational Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that promotes Latino civic engagement, operates a hotline with links published in Spanish-language media. The hotline helps people navigate questions about mail ballots, polling places and other details of the election process.
“People want to participate in democratic processes, but without the necessary information, they hit a wall,” said Juan Rosa, director of civic engagement at the foundation.
A recent survey showed high levels of civic engagement among naturalized citizens. 81,4% said they would “definitely” vote in the 2024 election, while 14,5% said they would “probably” vote. The survey was conducted by the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego, in conjunction with the National Partnership for New Americans, a coalition of organizations and groups across the United States dedicated to the rights and support of immigrants and refugees.
“The American electorate is more diverse than ever, and much of this is driven by newly naturalized citizen voters who make up an increasing share of the electorate,” said Tom Wong, a university political scientist who led the study.
The Pledge of Allegiance is the final step to becoming a U.S. citizen after passing a background check, medical examination, interview, and citizenship test.
At the federal courthouse in Savannah, R. Stan Baker, the chief judge, shook hands and posed for photos with each person taking the oath of office.
“You now have all the rights of an American,” he said. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
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As the new Americans filed out of the courtroom, Chassidy Malloy of the League of Women Voters of Coastal Georgia approached several of them and offered voter registration forms.
Some left clutching the form along with their certificate of citizenship and a small American flag.
Others chose to register on the spot, including three members of the Patel family.
“This is a wonderful country that we want to be a full part of,” said Nishang Patel, a 28-year-old dentist who was born in Kenya and came to the United States as a child. “We will all vote in the elections.”
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