Keith Vyvial

Research Posting #2

Immigrants and the Voting Process: A Promise of the American Dream?

            This being an election year, I decided in the course of the class that I would like to explore how the immigrants fit into the voting process.  Through research, I wanted to discover the answers to some question.  What rights do immigrants have with respect to voting?  Are there many restrictions?  How important is it personally for them to be able to vote?  As Mrs. Hamma says in Nicholasa Mohr’s “The English Lesson,” “This is, after all, a democracy…fairness for all” (Mohr 21).  The right to vote seems to me to be an integral part of the rights of all Americans.  So, the right to vote would be important for an immigrant to really feel like he or she is a true, vital piece of the “melting pot” called the United States of America.

The issue of immigrants and voting has historical significance in this country.  Non-citizen voting was actually widespread in the U.S. for the first 150 years of its history.  The U.S. Constitution itself gives individual states and municipalities the right to decide who is eligible to vote.  Non-citizen voting rights, however, were largely repealed due to the anti-immigrant sentiment of the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  In the Civil War era, Southern states resented immigrants’ opposition to slavery.  In many states, wartime hysteria and the Red scare after World War I made Americans want immigrants to “prove” their loyalty before receiving the privilege of voting.  As non-citizen populations increase, more communities are seeing the importance of these voters and enacting bills allowing voting rights (Hayduk).

            Immigrant voters as a whole are becoming more and more significant in American elections.  Turnout rates for these American elections have generally lagged behind those in other democracies.  After peaking in 1960, American turnout has steadily declined.  The near quarter drop translates into millions of nonvoters and poses a threat to democracy (Cho 1140).  Declining turnout rates have been attributed to, among other things, declining belief in government responsiveness, political efficacy, concerns over election outcomes and the strength of party identification (1141).  Because immigrant groups are socialized differently they add new factors to the political process.  For the native-born, past political experiences provide an understanding of American government, party politics and the voting process, often creating a jaded voter.  For the foreign-born, past experiences may not have provided the same familiarity with democratic political processes in general, and will not have created familiarity with American politics in particular (1144).  These immigrants still see the ideal of a democratic vote; it is still a piece of the American Dream.

            Unfortunately, voting might not be a reality for many new immigrants taking an interest in the upcoming election.  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced recently that green card holders who applied after June 1, 2008 could now have to wait 16 to 18 months for their applications to be processed.  Citizenship applications nationwide nearly doubled over the last fiscal year, from 731,000 in 2006 to 1.4 million in 2007.  The numbers soared as immigrants rushed to avoid an application fee increase that took effect July 30, 2007, raising the cost from $400 to $675.  Immigrant rights groups and Spanish-language media groups also recently launched a major citizenship drive dubbed “Ya es hora, ciudadania,” translated as “It’s time, citizenship,” in an effort to urge legal permanent residents to naturalize.

            Despite the USCIS’s claim of inability to handle the huge influx of citizenship applications, many think that the delays are more than just poor planning.  “I absolutely think they are politically motivated,” said Los Angeles immigration attorney Carl Shusterman in January of this year.  “The Republican candidates have spent the last few months demonizing immigrants.  Now the party is disenfranchising immigrants.”  Political accusations over newly naturalized citizens have occurred in the past.  In 1995, the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service led an effort too swear in more than a million citizens, prompting Republican allegations that President Clinton was trying to create a pool of potential Democratic voters just in time for the 1996 election (Gorman).  The accusations and political implications can be seen as a display of just how much power the immigrant and minority voters can have on an election.

            In my research, I have found that immigrant voting is an important topic in the American political process and immigrants are becoming a very hot target group.  The right to vote seems to be vital to new immigrants, especially to Mexican-Americans.  Historically, these immigrants have met with some resistance and discrimination, as many American citizens feel these immigrants must prove to themselves in terms of their loyalty to this country.  If some claims are to be believed, the prejudices are sometimes resulting as a victim of bipartisan politics.  This has proven to be a very interesting topic with numerous great sources.  In continuing my exploration of the topic, I especially would like to look at how immigrants and American voting compares with that of other countries.   The richness of information on the topic of immigrants and the voting process becomes important in understanding the topic of the immigrant experience and the facets of the American Dream.

Works Cited

Cho, Wendy K. Tam.  “Naturalization, Socialization, Participation: Immigrants and     (Non-)Voting.”  The Journal of Politics 61.4 (1999): 1140-1155.

Gorman, Anna.  “Eager to Vote But Stuck in Citizenship Process.”  Los Angeles Times.  2 Jan. 2008.  5 July 2008 <http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/02/local/me-novote2>.

Hayduk, Ron and Michele Wucker.  “Immigrant Voting Rights Receive More Attention.”  Migration Information Source.  Nov. 2004. 5 July 2008             <http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id-265>.

Mohr, Nicholasa.  “The English Lesson.”  Imagining America.  Ed. Wesley Brown & Amy Ling.  New York, Persea Books: 2002.  21-34.