In Michigan, a bloc of New American Voters — recently naturalized citizens that have earned the right to vote — has the potential to play an outsized role in the outcomes of critical federal and state races. This voting bloc is multiracial, multigenerational, geographically diverse, and majority female.

New American Voters hold distinct ideologies, experiences, and viewpoints, and will be motivated by a variety of issues this November.

With a competitive gubernatorial election (rated “toss up” by the Cook Political Report), Michigan will be one of the most critical states during the November 2022 midterm elections and New American Voters can sway the outcome.

Nearly 20 percent of Michigan’s newly naturalized citizens are from Iraq. Approximately 61 percent are under the age of 45 years old and more than around 53 percent are women.
Nearly 20 percent of Michigan’s newly naturalized citizens are from Iraq. Approximately 61 percent are under the age of 45 years old and more than around 53 percent are women.

Michigan ranks 9th according to the New American Voters Impact Model, which was created by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) and the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California, San Diego to showcase the potential of this critical voting bloc to influence the outcome of midterm elections in 50 states. This report offers data that illustrates how New American Voters can have an outsized impact.

  • Michigan is home to 66,177 newly naturalized citizens, representing nearly half of the 154,188-vote margin of victory in the 2020 presidential election in the state.
  • Nearly 20 percent of Michigan’s newly naturalized citizens are from Iraq. Approximately 61 percent are under the age of 45 years old and more than around 53 percent are women.
  • The Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metropolitan area has the highest concentration of naturalized citizens, with nearly 290,000, followed by the Grand Rapids metropolitan area with nearly 34,000, and then the Ann Arbor metropolitan area with approximately 32,000.

Michigan’s cohort is part of an estimated 5.19 million newly naturalized citizens across the U.S., according to New American Voters 2022: Harnessing the Power of Naturalized Citizens, a report released by NPNA, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), APIAVote, and USPIC. The power of this potential voting bloc is determined by individuals’ ability to both register and vote this November.

WHO ARE MICHIGAN'S NEW AMERICAN VOTERS
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This electoral season presents many challenges, including the need for organizations to adapt their voter engagement work to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, language access issues , and ongoing efforts to tighten and restrict access to voting, particularly targeting voters of color.

One form of voter suppression that has emerged in recent years is the increasing backlog and processing delays of citizenship applications.

According to the latest data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), there are over 700,000 pending citizenship applications nationwide, with 14,553 applications backlogged in USCIS’ offices in Michigan and an average processing time of 11 months.

This means that immigrants who are eligible for citizenship and who would have otherwise naturalized and have had time to register to vote in this year’s elections may not be able to do so given the naturalization application backlog.

Michigan-based organizations, including Asian & Pacific Islander Vote (APIAVote) Michigan, and Michigan United, are partnering with NPNA’s New American Voters Campaign, a non-partisan nationwide effort to address naturalization barriers and encourage newly naturalized citizens to register and vote.

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