For Irene Díaz-Bazán, an immigrant from Peru, taking the citizenship oath in metro Atlanta brought a feeling of security. It also came with a privilege she was looking forward to: voting.
“I felt sincerely honored knowing I would be able to vote in elections in the U.S., a wonderful country where my kids were born and which has opened important doors for me,” she said in Spanish. “It doesn’t have a price.”
Voters like Díaz-Bazán could play an increasingly decisive role in statewide Georgia races. According to an estimate from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, nearly 250,000 Georgia green card holders are eligible to naturalize in 2024. That number represents over 20 times the vote difference in the state’s 2020 presidential election results, when Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by a razor-thin margin of 11,779 votes after over 4.9 million ballots were cast.
Georgia’s emergence as a competitive state where few votes could decide the winning ticket is filtering down to immigrant communities who are eligible for U.S. citizenship — a benefit most people can apply for only after holding permanent residency or a green card for five years.
“Understanding how there could also be such tight, tight margins in this election is absolutely, absolutely motivating people,” said Meredyth Yoon, litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta (AAAJA), a civil rights group that regularly holds naturalization clinics. Nationally, Asians represent the largest group of immigrants who have naturalized since 2020.
“It’s really inspiring,” Yoon added. “They want to participate. They want to vote.”
As the election nears, organizations like AAAJA are ramping up efforts to help immigrants naturalize and walk them through the voter registration process. It’s a type of assistance advocates say continues to be needed in the wake of a recent court decision upholding Georgia’s policy of imposing additional registration requirements on new Americans.
According to Emory University political scientist Andra Gillespie, naturalized voters are more likely to break Democratic, but many can also be swayed by Republican causes and appeals to conservative values. In 2020, Trump expanded his support from voters of color – including Hispanics and Asian Americans, who represent the bulk of naturalized citizens – even as he failed to reach historic heights set among those groups by past Republican candidates.
“Amongst new American citizens, there is this uncertainty about where they stand politically. … They’re still becoming familiar with the American system and what the parties stand for,” Gillespie said. “And that is an opportunity that both parties can take advantage of.”
Historically, Asian and Hispanic households have reported lower rates of contact from parties and candidates than the rest of the electorate, Gillespie said, “because [campaigns] make assumptions that folks aren’t citizens.”
Lack of outreach can correlate with lower rates of participation in elections. In 2016, only 54% of naturalized voters turned out, compared to 62% of U.S. born citizens, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center study.
“When you have a margin that is that small and every vote matters, and you have a naturalized immigrant community that is larger than that margin, then you want to make sure that all of those people vote, and that they’re participating in elections,” Gillespie said.
“That’s especially true for Democrats,” she added, noting there are more Republicans than Democrats in the state.
According to the American Immigration Council, which advocates on behalf of immigrants, naturalized immigrants make up 7.4% of the Georgia electorate.
Becoming citizens, then voters
Though Georgia is home to hundreds of thousands of immigrants eligible to naturalize this year, it is likely only a smaller number will choose to complete the naturalization process, which includes a biometrics appointment and a civics and English exam, among other steps.
Cost is a notable barrier. In April, USCIS increased the cost of filing an application for naturalization from $640 to $710. Community advocates say some immigrants are also daunted by the prospect of being tested in English, even though only a conversational level is needed to pass.
In fiscal years 2020 through 2023, 81,478 immigrants became naturalized U.S. citizens in Georgia, making them eligible to participate in the 2024 election, according to federal data.
For many new citizens, the most convenient way to register to vote is in person at the conclusion of their naturalization ceremonies. Last year, the Biden administration released new guidance for USCIS, affirming its goal of providing voter registration services at every ceremony. The guidance requires the agency to request that local or state election officials attend ceremonies to distribute and collect voter registration applications. If government officials are unavailable, USCIS must turn to non-partisan nonprofits instead.
In metro Atlanta, local nonprofits led by the League of Women Voters have taken up the mantle of helping register new citizens at naturalization ceremonies, following a long COVID-related hiatus. One of those nonprofits, GALEO, a nonprofit focused on civic engagement, reported that it wasn’t until earlier this year that they were able to return to naturalization ceremonies.
Most ceremonies take place at the USCIS field office in DeKalb County’s Northlake community, but some are occasionally held in other locales, including federal courtrooms. In a statement, Keisha Smith, executive director of DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections, said her office hasn’t received a request from USCIS to provide registration services, but “we stand ready to support as needed.” Gwinnett elections board and Elections Supervisor Zach Manifold said his office recently received its first USCIS request to participate in a naturalization ceremony since he took on his post in 2021.
Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO’s CEO, says it is valuable to help naturalized immigrants register to vote in person because “unfortunately, naturalized citizens have to go through extra steps in Georgia to become duly registered voters, and they are treated differently.”
To be able to vote, new citizens must update their state ID or show proof of citizenship when registering.
When GALEO collects registration forms at citizenship ceremonies, they include a copy of immigrants’ brand-new naturalization certificates, to ensure those applications won’t get flagged later. Gonzalez says it’s still a good idea for naturalized citizens who are voting for the first time to bring a U.S. passport with them to their precinct.
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