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The Merced Sun-Star (California)
October 24, 2008 Friday
ALL EDITION
NATURALIZED VOTERS CRITICAL IN ELECTIONS;
EXPLODING IMMIGRANT POPULATION WILL PLAY GREATER ROLE IN FUTURE.
BY MICHAEL DOYLE, SUN-STAR WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON
Naturalized citizens in the San Joaquin Valley could decide future
elections, immigrant advocates conclude in a revealing report issued
Thursday.
Nearly one in six voting-age residents in some Valley congressional
districts are foreign-born naturalized U.S. citizens, the new report
shows. This is twice the national average and could shape Valley
politics for years to come.
"We have the ability to carry an election," Tuyet G. Duong, the
daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, declared Thursday. "We're a force
to contend with." Duong is senior staff attorney with the Asian
American Justice Center, which helped release the new immigrant voting
study.
The report is apparently the first to tally both naturalized citizens
and the children of immigrants, a combined population the report's
authors dub the New Americans.
"This new immigrant population is just exploding," said research
analyst Rob Paral, the report's chief author.
This is certainly the case in California, where two years ago 24
percent of all registered voters were naturalized Americans or the
children of immigrants who have arrived since 1965. This far exceeded
any other state and marked an increase from 22 percent in 2004.
California's 18th Congressional District exemplifies the trend,
stretching from Stockton to Merced and into a sliver of Fresno
County. Nearly 16 percent of the district's voting-age residents are
naturalized U.S. citizens, the new report shows.
By contrast, only 7.5 percent of voting-age residents nationwide are
naturalized citizens.
The population is similar in the neighboring 20th Congressional
District, which includes Kings County and portions of Fresno and Kern
counties. Slightly more than 14 percent of the district's registered
voters are naturalized U.S. citizens, the study shows.
"It's not that everyone comes from Mexico," noted Mike Lynch, a
Modesto-based public policy consultant and former congressional
staffer. "This part of the country has an enormous number of ethnic
groups. We have Armenians. We have Sikhs. We have Ukrainians. We have
Portuguese." Populations, in turn, drive political agendas. Attuned to
Armenian-American voters, the Valley's lawmakers have always been in
the forefront of efforts to pass a controversial Armenian genocide
commemoration. Heeding conservative Hmong residents, Valley
politicians denounce the socialist Laotian government. The
Congressional Portuguese Caucus is rooted in the region.
"The Portuguese culture is thriving in the San Joaquin Valley, and
there are many festas (cq) throughout the year, family reunions, the
exchanges of those traditions and the ties that bind us quite well,"
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said last month as the House passed a
resolution commemorating Portuguese immigration.
Naturalization also burdens Valley congressional offices, where
staffers report they spend considerable time helping immigrants
navigate citizenship hurdles. Latino and Asian immigrants dominate the
rolls of recently naturalized U.S. citizens living in California.
In some parts of the state, the so-called New Americans are even more
of an electoral force -- at least, they could be. Naturalized citizens
account for more than one-third of the voting-age populations in some
San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California congressional
districts, according to the study based on Census Bureau data and
surveys.
October 24, 2008 Friday
ALL EDITION
NATURALIZED VOTERS CRITICAL IN ELECTIONS;
EXPLODING IMMIGRANT POPULATION WILL PLAY GREATER ROLE IN FUTURE.
BY MICHAEL DOYLE, SUN-STAR WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON
Naturalized citizens in the San Joaquin Valley could decide future
elections, immigrant advocates conclude in a revealing report issued
Thursday.
Nearly one in six voting-age residents in some Valley congressional
districts are foreign-born naturalized U.S. citizens, the new report
shows. This is twice the national average and could shape Valley
politics for years to come.
"We have the ability to carry an election," Tuyet G. Duong, the
daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, declared Thursday. "We're a force
to contend with." Duong is senior staff attorney with the Asian
American Justice Center, which helped release the new immigrant voting
study.
The report is apparently the first to tally both naturalized citizens
and the children of immigrants, a combined population the report's
authors dub the New Americans.
"This new immigrant population is just exploding," said research
analyst Rob Paral, the report's chief author.
This is certainly the case in California, where two years ago 24
percent of all registered voters were naturalized Americans or the
children of immigrants who have arrived since 1965. This far exceeded
any other state and marked an increase from 22 percent in 2004.
California's 18th Congressional District exemplifies the trend,
stretching from Stockton to Merced and into a sliver of Fresno
County. Nearly 16 percent of the district's voting-age residents are
naturalized U.S. citizens, the new report shows.
By contrast, only 7.5 percent of voting-age residents nationwide are
naturalized citizens.
The population is similar in the neighboring 20th Congressional
District, which includes Kings County and portions of Fresno and Kern
counties. Slightly more than 14 percent of the district's registered
voters are naturalized U.S. citizens, the study shows.
"It's not that everyone comes from Mexico," noted Mike Lynch, a
Modesto-based public policy consultant and former congressional
staffer. "This part of the country has an enormous number of ethnic
groups. We have Armenians. We have Sikhs. We have Ukrainians. We have
Portuguese." Populations, in turn, drive political agendas. Attuned to
Armenian-American voters, the Valley's lawmakers have always been in
the forefront of efforts to pass a controversial Armenian genocide
commemoration. Heeding conservative Hmong residents, Valley
politicians denounce the socialist Laotian government. The
Congressional Portuguese Caucus is rooted in the region.
"The Portuguese culture is thriving in the San Joaquin Valley, and
there are many festas (cq) throughout the year, family reunions, the
exchanges of those traditions and the ties that bind us quite well,"
Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said last month as the House passed a
resolution commemorating Portuguese immigration.
Naturalization also burdens Valley congressional offices, where
staffers report they spend considerable time helping immigrants
navigate citizenship hurdles. Latino and Asian immigrants dominate the
rolls of recently naturalized U.S. citizens living in California.
In some parts of the state, the so-called New Americans are even more
of an electoral force -- at least, they could be. Naturalized citizens
account for more than one-third of the voting-age populations in some
San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California congressional
districts, according to the study based on Census Bureau data and
surveys.