October 23, 2008 2:46 PM
Today, the Immigration Policy Center released a study entitled "The New American Electorate: The Growing political Power of Immigrants and Their Children," which examines the impact of "new immigrant" voters and their children on the current election and future elections.
Here are some key findings of the study:
- New Americans were 8.6 percent of all registered voters in 2006
- Latinos and Asians accounted for 9.3 percent of all registered voters in 2006
- According to the Office of Immigration Statistics and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, there are roughly 3 million more naturalized citizens eligible to vote now than there were during the last Presidential election in 2004
- 7.6 million Latino voters turned out in 2004. According to a recent NALEO Educational Fund poll of registered Latino voters in key battleground states - Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada - found that nearly 90 percent of Latino registered voters in those states are almost certian they will vote in November
- New Americans' share of registered voters exceeded 2004 Presidential victory margins in 16 states....including New York
- Candidates' stance on immigration is likely to impact voting decisions in 2008. According to a poll conducted in June by the Pew Hispanic Center, 75 percent of Latino registered voters view the immigration issue as "extremely important" or "very important."
The Immigration Policy Center also gave a breakdown of voters by Congressional district. Below is a summary of the five Congressional districts on Long Island:
New York Congressional District 1; Representative Tim Bishop; Area includes Town of Brookhaven and eastern Long Island.
Representative Bishop's district has 477,591 voting-age citizens of which 7.3% are naturalized citizens. The race/ethnicity breakdown is 86.80% White; 6.60% Latino; 2.10% Asian; 3.40% Black; and 1.10% Other.
New York Congressional District 2; Representative Steve Israel; Area includes all of Huntington, northern portions of Islip and Babylon, western portions of Smithtown and eastern portions of Oyster Bay.
Representative Israel's district has 450,037 voting-age citizens of which 13% are naturalized citizens. The race/ethnicity breakdown is 75.70% White; 10.10% Latino; 3.40% Asian; 10.30% Black; and .60% Other.
New York Congressional District 3; Representative Pete King; Area includes parts of the western are of the Town of Islip to the Glen Cove/Hicksville area.
Representative King's district has 463,287 voting-age citizens of which 11.0% are naturalized citizens. The race/ethnicity breakdown is 86.40% White; 6.70% Latino; 3.6% Asian; 2.4% Black; and .80% Other.
New York Congressional District 4; Representative Carolyn McCarthy; Area includes in it's eastern area East Meadow and goes west to Woodmere.
Representative McCarthy's district has 437,692 voting-age citizens of which 21.7% are naturalized citizens. The race/ethnicity breakdown is 64.70% White; 9.7% Latino; 5.6% Asian; 19.1% Black; and 1.0% Other.
New York Congressional District 5; Representative Gary Ackerman; Area includes Northwestern Nassau County and Northeastern Queens including Old Westbury and Jackson Heights.
Representative Ackerman's district has 374,656 voting-age citizens of which 41.9% are naturalized citizens. The race/ethnicity breakdown is 53.7% White; 17.10% Latino; 23% Asian; 5.6% Black; and .70% Other.
So why is this important?
If you couple the above results with the findings from the newest Adelphi report we released on Monday, "Strengthening Long Island: Economic Contributions of Immigrants to Nassau and Suffolk Counties," which found that immigrants contribute $10.6 billion to Long Island's economy, you start to wonder why immigration has been the political third rail of this election season.
I've said this for a long time now, but now we have the hard numbers of the situation. Many elected officials on Long Island have won votes by playing to a very unwelcoming crowd, when it would be smart and strategically beneficial to find ways to welcome immigrants to Long Island. Immigrants not only contribute to the economy, but they are a rapidly increasing voting block....and they care about our elected officials' stance on immigration.
And thanks to the excitement surrounding the 2008 Presidential election, immigrants are expected to turn-out in record numbers. And thanks to a broken immigration system, many who have applied for citizenship won't be eligible to vote in this election, but will be in upcoming years. This is a number that isn't likely to shrink any time soon. I can tell you that when I speak to someone who is going through the immigration process they are extremely frustrated with how dysfunctional of an experience it is....only making them care that much more about immigration reform.
The bottom line is that the immigrant voice needs to be heard and will be heard. It is up to our elected officials to decide whether it will be forced upon them or they actively engage in dialogue with a growing and powerful voting block.