New American Voters The Growing Political Power of Immigrants and Their Children

Today, the Immigration Policy Center released a report on the rapidly rising number of New American voters. In The New American Electorate: The Growing Political Power of Immigrants and their Children, New American voters are defined as naturalized U.S. citizens and the children born to immigrants in the U.S. since 1965, when the current wave of immigration from Latin American and Asia began. The report also provides data on Asian and Latino voters. New Americans have a highly personal connection to the modern immigrant experience and are part of families that live the political and economic realities of immigration today. The Immigration Policy Center began documenting the size of this important voting bloc in 2008.

The report finds:

• New Americans accounted for 1 in 10 registered voters in the U.S. in 2008.

• Between 1996 and 2008, the number of New American registered voters jumped 101.5%.

KJ