Immigrant Civic Participation

Why we need to support new- and non- citizen engagement

As GC MA Senior Program Associate, Samantha Perlman, wrote in December, when parents don’t have the civic knowledge or skills to prepare their children for political engagement, a role reversal can take place: kids, especially those who receive an effective civic education, can instead teach their parents how to be politically engaged. For children of immigrants, like me, this rings especially true.

Every November, my parents can expect a text from me.

“Don’t forget to vote!” I say. “It’s super, super important.”

My parents immigrated to the United States from China in the mid-1990s. Though they grew up during an era characterized by a flurry of political activity, China was and remains a country in which elections are rare, where free speech is limited or nonexistent, and where political action, at least not the “right kind,” is curtailed. In short, my parents didn’t have the chance to learn the type of civic and political engagement practiced by an ideal American citizen.

While my parents are now citizens and can thus vote, their example highlights some of the informal barriers immigrants face to political and civic participation. These include language, literacy, or cultural barriers. Immigrants may be unaware of opportunities to participate, may not understand how political processes work, and may not know where to seek information about these subjects. They may not have the time or resources to get involved. If they emigrated from countries with high levels of political repression, they may fear the consequences of participation. [1]

Immigrants also face significant formal barriers to political participation. New immigrant groups (the majority of which are from Latin America and Asia) tend to be younger and have lower rates of naturalization. They often have difficulties fulfilling the formal requirements to vote: being 18 or over, being a citizen, or having the proper documents needed to register. In New York, while Latinos make up 23.6% of the population, they only make up 19.3% of all voting age citizens; in Los Angeles, they make up 43.6% of the population but 22% of all voting age citizens. Similarly, while Asians make up 8.4% of the population in New York, they only make up 6.3% of all voting age citizens; in Los Angeles, they make up 7.6% of the population but 4% of all voting age citizens. [2] Moreover, political parties, candidates, unions, and advocacy organizations often fail to mobilize immigrant voters, choosing to focus on frequent voters rather than new voters. [3] This fact demonstrates the vicious cycle caused by structural barriers to voting for immigrant populations: they cannot vote, so they are not mobilized by political parties, so they fail to participate politically. The consequences of this disenfranchisement are stark: Latinos and Asians hold less political influence and less representation than they are due.

Our democracy thrives when we all have equal voice and influence in government. We should make sure that those who have come to call the U.S. their home have the knowledge, skills, and resources to participate fully in democratic governance so that elected officials respond to their needs. For my part, I’ll keep getting my parents to the polls every November.

[2] Logan, John & John Mollenkopf. 2003. People and Politics in America’s Big Cities. New York, NY: Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. May 15, 2003.

[3] Logan and Mollenkopf. People and Politics in America’s Big Cities.

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