In 2024, which is an election year in the United States, the federal government is approving citizenship applications at the fastest pace in years, giving more applicants hope of obtaining citizenship in time to vote in the upcoming November 5th election and participate in choosing the next U.S. president.
According to the Los Angeles Times, on September 19th, 775 citizenship applicants from 63 countries gathered at a theater in Riverside, California to take the oath of becoming U.S. citizens. This means they are now eligible to register to vote and make a difference in the upcoming election.
Across the United States, more and more people are being sworn in as new citizens due to the immigration authorities processing citizenship applications at the quickest pace in a decade.
The Biden administration has stated that the increase in new citizens is a result of efforts to reduce the backlog of citizenship applications that began during the Trump administration and escalated during the pandemic. Immigration officials emphasize that the current efforts to expedite the processing of citizenship applications are not driven by the U.S. election or any other political agenda.
Naree Ketudat, the Deputy Press Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, stated that the department “does not take action based on election politics or upcoming elections.” She added that the agency has been striving for decades to achieve the goal of processing citizenship applications within six months.
During election years, citizenship applications in the U.S. typically surge. This year is no exception, as thousands of individuals have timely applied for citizenship with the aim of being able to vote in the presidential election on November 5th.
According to data from the U.S. federal government, nearly 4 million immigrants have obtained U.S. citizenship since the 2020 election. Additionally, Xiao Wang, the co-founder of the immigration services company Boundless, mentioned that 9 million more individuals are eligible for citizenship.
Although eligible to vote, the influence of new citizens in the presidential election depends on where they reside and whether they choose to vote. In battleground states where the election outcome is uncertain, new citizens have the potential to greatly impact the results.
A recent survey released by the National Partnership for New Americans, a coalition of 70 major immigration and refugee rights organizations in the U.S., indicated that 97% of eligible new citizen voters in swing states and California expressed their intent to vote in the fall, with 76% stating they will definitely vote.
New citizen voters make up about 10% of the total U.S. electorate. While the survey conducted by the National Partnership for New Americans showed new citizens have diverse political leanings, they tend to lean towards the Democratic Party. Out of 2,678 registered new citizen voters surveyed, around 54% indicated they would vote for the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, while 38% said they would support the Republican candidate, former President Trump.
As of July 31st, data from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shows that the average processing time for citizenship applications has decreased from a record 11.5 months in 2021 to 4.9 months in the current fiscal year, cutting the time in half. Even back in 2014, processing a citizenship application typically required 4.9 months.