Naturalization To Change U. S. Political Landscape

Teresa Watanabe of the L.A. Times has an article that considers the change in electoral politics coming as a result in the naturalization of hundreds of thousands of latino and Asian immigrants. California’s 300,000 new citizens accounted for nearly one-third of the nation’s total om 2007 and represented a near-doubling over 2006, according to a recent report by the U.S. Office of Immigration Statistics. Mexicans represented the largest group of new citizens, with nearly one-fourth of the total. They were followed by Indians, Filipinos, Chinese, Cubans and Vietnamese.

“As we have more Asian American and Latino voters, our electorate will begin to look more like the face of the public at large,” said Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute.

KJ