The University of Southern California’s Center for the Study of Immigration Integration recently released a report that discovered that around 3.6% of the US population who are of voting age are newly naturalized citizens, a statistic that includes people who have acquired US citizenship sometime over the course of the last decade. State magazine says that this group of people is highly motivated to become naturalized and to be able to take part in voting due to the politics that surround the immigration decade.
Naturalized citizens account for over 8% of the voting population, which comprises of around one third Latino, one third Non-Hispanic whites and blacks, and one third Asian. While this number has grown of late, it still represents a fairly small percentage of the voting population, although in elections where razor thin margins determine the fate of swing states such votes are highly pertinent.
“We hope that the data inspires a more civil, balanced and solutions oriented conversation about immigration – one in which realistic solutions are proposed and agreed upon so that voters can concentrate on other issues such as the economy,” says Dr Manual Pastor, who serves as the Director of the Center for the Study of Immigration Integration for the University of Southern California.
An exhibit has been commissioned at Kansas City’s Robert J Dole Courthouse by the US District Court in the District of Kansas to document the history of immigration and naturalization in the state.