“Naturalize Now, Vote Tomorrow: New Americans Vote 2020 and 5 more days to oppose fee increases”

From the National Partnership for New Americans:

Yesterday, NPNA was joined in DC by over 80 advocates representing our network and held a press conference to release our report, Naturalize Now, Vote Tomorrow: New Americans Vote 2020, to:

• highlight the 5.3 newly naturalized citizens and the critical impact that they can have in the Presidential election of 2020 and future elections;
• encourage that newly naturalized citizens register to vote; and
• call for voter registration drives that specifically target newly naturalized citizens.

Below are some key findings:

• Since 2014, approximately 5.3 million newly naturalized citizens will become eligible to vote before the Presidential election of 2020.
• An estimated 860,000 newly naturalized citizens will become eligible voters in 2020 alone; joining a total of 3.1 million newly naturalized citizens since the election of Donald Trump for President.
• The rising number of New American voters represent voting blocks that can have the power to sway the outcome of the upcoming Presidential election, midterm elections, and elections for governorships and state legislatures.
• These voting blocks will be especially critical in swing states like Florida, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, and Michigan, where some of the largest groups of newly naturalized citizens reside.
• While the number of newly naturalized citizens has grown in recent years, their potential political power and impact has been largely untapped. Research shows that once a newly naturalized citizen registers to vote, they vote at equal or even greater rates than native-born citizens. But they face formidable barriers of fear, lack of information, and language barriers to registering, and, without support, may not take that first step.
• Voter registration and voter mobilization efforts specifically targeting the newly naturalized are urgently needed in order to ensure their registration, voting, and political empowerment in the polls.

(2) There’s five days left to submit a public comment opposing the proposed regulation to increase citizenship and other fees; eliminate most fee waivers; and transfer $112 million from application fees to enforcement. 

 

In late January, the Trump administration re-opened the comment period and the deadline to submit comments is now February 10, 2020. 

 

Visit The National Partnership for New Americans website for more information