Immigrant Level of Engagement in the Voting Process
Abstract: Every year millions of people from many different countries migrate to the US. These migrants are given the status of Legal Permanent Resident but are not given the chance to vote. Immigrants to the US must become a citizen before they can vote. Citizenship takes five years and in that time, many immigrants become disengaged from the entire electoral process, and even after becoming a citizen, refuse to vote. Even though immigrants contribute to society and pay taxes, the law says they still cannot vote until they become a citizen. The US Homeland Security “Population Estimates” 2009 reported 12,450,000 Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) in the United States, and of this amount 7,870,000 are eligible for citizenship. This project looks at the percentage of US naturalized citizens that take part in the voting process, and also look at whether or not the 5 years period of citizenship should be reduce. New York City College of technology was targeted for this research because of their high immigrant student population. The college website reported 15,368 students enrolled in a Degree program for the fall of 2010, and of these students 41.7% was born in outside the US.
OBJECTIVE
For this project, all the steps of research will be down. The project will include extensive review of the literature, statistics analysis of the immigrant population on campus and the development of questioners to test the hypothesis.
Hypothesis: If immigrants wait five years to vote, they lose interests in the voting process.
RESULTS:
Twenty four students age 22-32 participated in this study. Of these students, 75% said they were Naturalized Citizens, and the other 25% said they were Legal Permanent Resident. Of the 75% naturalized citizens, 30% said they do take part in elections, but only one person reported that they vote in the last election. When the naturalized students were asked why they did not vote, they reported that they did not know why, but they just never got involved in politics. The 25% legal permanent residents students said they would like the five years period for naturalization to be reduce to three years. Unfortunately my attempts to broaden this research to the general public and gather information as to what percentage of naturalized citizens vote in the 2008 general election failed. However, Homeland Security “Population Estimates” revealed that in 2009, they were 12,450,000 LPR living in the US, and of this amount 7,870,000 were eligible for citizenship.
Discussion
This research reveal that a large percentage of Naturalized Citizens do not take part in elections, and are not familiar with most political figures such as District Attorneys, and Senators. The research also show that the 5 years period, of citizenship help to make immigrants disengaged in the voting process. This was revealed when participant was asked if they think the 5 years wait made them lose interest in voting. Both LPR and Naturalized Citizens said they would like to see the 5 years period reduce to 3 years, not only because of voting, but also to gain jobs opportunities. Many jobs are limited to US citizens, and LPR students feel that they are not given a fair chance to make a living. The LPR students said they are face with many problems that no politician talks about, or seems to be concern with. The LPR students also feel that they have little representation at the political level and that is partly why they do not follow the elections or take part in voting.
Immigrant Level of engagement in the voting process
Questionnaire:
| Yes |
| No |
1 Are you a naturalized US Citizen?
2 Are you a legal permanent Resident of the US?
3. Have you ever taken part in the voting process?
4. Did you vote in the last primary election?
5. Who is the governor of New York?
6. Who was the last mayor of New York?
7. Who is the current mayor of New York?
8. What are the two major political parties?
9. Where is our national capital located?
10. Who is New York District Attorney?
11. Who are the Senators of New York?
12. Do you think the period to become a citizen should be reduced from 5 years?
A) Remain the same (B) reduced to 3 years (C) reduced to 4 years
