Immigrants hold American flags ahead of the irnaturalization ceremony in Washington. Since the 2020 presidential election, more than 3.5 million adults across the country, including 41,368 in Nevada, have become naturalized citizens, according to estimates from the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego.
In battleground states like Nevada — where fewer than 10% of votes could sway the outcome of November’s elections — experts are focusing on a community that can cause an electoral shift: new Americans.
Las Vegas locals and community organizers gathered Monday morning to raise awareness on how naturalized citizens can make their votes count in the upcoming election, in an effort led by advocacy groups like the Asian Community Development Council (ACDC), the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN).
“Kitchen table issues matter for our (newly naturalized citizen) community, just like they do for our U.S.-born counterparts,” said Nicole Melaku, the executive director of NPNA. “So removing barriers to opportunity and ensuring everybody has access to an economy that works for all, ensuring that we can have good lives for our community and our family members is top of mind for people.”
Monday’s event was the launch of a three-week tour, including stops in other swing states such as Pennsylvania and Arizona, where organizers will meet with immigrant communities to emphasize the value of civic engagement and discuss methods to steer through voting barriers.
Monday’s event was the launch of a three-week tour, including stops in other swing states such as Pennsylvania and Arizona, where organizers will meet with immigrant communities to emphasize the value in civic engagement and discuss methods to steer through voting barriers.
The inaugural stop in Las Vegas included a roundtable, where naturalized citizens who would be voting this year spoke about the issues that matter to them.
Melaku said attendees included people who work in health care or are in local unions and are concerned about issues beyond immigration, including gun safety, reproductive issues, and workers’ rights. Much of Melaku’s work with NPNA — which calls itself the country’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organization — involves outreach in 40 states to increase immigrant integration with advocacy, campaigning, and policy initiatives.
Since the last presidential election, more than 3.5 million adults across the country, including 41,368 in Nevada, have become naturalized citizens, according to estimates from the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California, San Diego.
When deciding between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential race, it came down to about 33,600 votes in Nevada — a difference of less than 3% — according to data from the secretary of state.
Experts anticipate another close presidential election in November. As Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump, the Republican nominee, prepare for their first debate today, the two remain close in the polls. The most recent New York Times/Siena Poll of likely voters across the country showed the former president leading with 48% and Harris at 47%.
Edelweiss Solano is one of those new Americans with the potential to swing the election. Solano, ACDC’s director of family services, took the oath in January after more than a decade of living in the United States.
“It was a sacrifice that I had to make to leave everything that was familiar, but I was also greeted with a promise and opportunity,” Solano said about leaving her home in the Philippines back in 2013.
She said her work with ACDC showed her how “intimidating it was” for her fellow Asian community members to approach the application form for naturalization and the financial burdens of seeking assistance for it. She helped people navigate the path to citizenship with free assistance until she was eligible to undergo the process herself earlier this year.
“Being an American citizen is so much more than clutching that small U.S. flag that I waved during my naturalization ceremony,” Solano said. “It is about serving that bigger purpose, to have my voice finally be heard, to express my opinion on the candidate that I will vote for, who reflects my values and represents the interests of my community.”
While there has been some progress when it comes to accessibility for naturalized citizens casting their first vote, like bilingual ballots and polling centers in easier-to-reach locations, Melaku believes there is more to do.
Melaku cited voter identification efforts, which the Republican National Committee has championed, as an example of intimidation efforts.
Many Republicans have spoken about “election integrity” as a key issue this election cycle, stemming from the party’s belief that Democrats won in 2020 through unfair means. Those Republicans continue to push for stricter voter ID requirements, like a federal law that would mandate proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
The RNC’s efforts led to Clark County inactivating more than 100,000 registered voters to prevent them from automatically receiving a ballot and several ongoing lawsuits, according to the party.
In a recent effort, the RNC, Team Trump, and the Nevada GOP hosted a “Protect the Vote” and “election integrity” volunteer training in Reno, where attendees learned how to be a “poll watcher” aware of potential voter fraud. Matthew Whitaker, a former acting attorney general under Trump, attended and said that 165,000 people nationwide have signed up to watch the polls.
“We can’t have all these systems for voting without making sure that you follow the law,” Whitaker added.
Those who oppose the changes Republicans are proposing worry that stricter voting identification laws could cause racial profiling or cause minority communities to fear showing up to the polls.
“We have hard numbers of folks who have naturalized in each of these states, that people have been vetted,” Melaku said. “They have the ability and the proven documentation to prove that they can be voting in this year’s cycle.”
haajrah.gilani@gmgvegas.com / 702-990-8923 / @haajrahgilani