New Americans in the Voting Booth: The Growing Electoral Power of Immigrant Communities
Today, the American Immigration Council releases New Americans in the Voting Booth: The Growing Electoral Power of Immigrant Communities by Walter Ewing and Guillermo Cantor.
Over the past two decades, the number of voters who are immigrants or the native-born children of immigrants (“New Americans”), as well as the larger communities to which immigrants and their children belong (primarily Latinos and Asians), have become the fastest growing segments of the electorate. An analysis of electoral data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that the number of New American registered voters rose by 10.6 million—an increase of 143.1 percent—between 1996 and 2012, and the number of registered voters who are Latinos or Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) increased by 9.8 million. New Americans, Latinos, and APIs constitute a predictably large share of registered voters in states such as California, New York, Texas, Illinois, and Florida; however, some of the fastest growth rates are found in other states.
The impact of a rising number of New American, Latino, or API voters goes far beyond the political dynamics of any particular election and constitutes a rapidly rising political force with which more and more candidates for public office will have to reckon. In the coming years, politicians who alienate these voters will find it increasingly difficult to win national and many state and local elections—especially in close races.
KJ