More naturalized citizens could impact elections

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Three out of every four immigrants in the U.S. are naturalized citizens.

A new report says that in eight states this year, including Florida, the number of immigrants eligible to become U.S. citizens outnumbers those states’ margins of victory in the 2020 presidential election.

The report done by the American Immigration Council goes on to say this year’s election could potentially be impacted by an increase in naturalizations nationwide.

The U.S. has a history of welcoming immigrants. For many of them, the goal is to become a naturalized citizen and with that comes the power to vote.

And a new report shows immigrant communities are increasingly becoming a critical voting bloc.

That’s the case for one family in Clearwater.

Music can bring up memories, and for Alex Gomez, they’re memories of his home country of Venezuela.

“Classical music is a big, big community. We have orchestra everywhere,” he said.

Gomez was a conductor, and is now a music producer, mixing sounds from different parts of Latin America.

He says living in the U.S. has given him the platform to continue pursuing his musical dreams. “Music helps support my family; it supports everything.”

It’s also with his family’s support that he and his wife, Alicia Duarte, became citizens in 2022.

“It is very important to become a citizen. Not everyone has the opportunity to do that,” Duarte said.

According to the American Immigration Council’s report on Naturalization in the United States, the number of immigrants likely eligible to naturalize this year in Florida is more than 500,000. In the 2020 presidential election, Florida was decided by less than 400,000 votes, so new U.S. citizens can make a difference.

Nan Wu, the director of research with the American Immigration Council, says it’s important to study patterns in voting. “We care a lot about voters, including immigrant voters, and once they become citizens and are eligible to vote, what kind of election power they might have once they go through the process and cast in their vote.”

This will be the first presidential election where Duarte will be eligible to vote. She says she’s paying close attention to immigration policies. “You never know what’s going to happen, so if you have the opportunity to do, just do it.”

Gomez says he tries to stay on top of proposed legislation, and he expects Florida to play an important role in deciding the country’s future.

“Florida makes the difference in the final round and Florida has a large Hispanics community, that’s why it’s really important to be a citizen now.”

Just like he’s using music to change the world, he also plans to use his vote as his voice.

There are more than seven million immigrants in the U.S. who are likely eligible to naturalize but have yet to do so, which represents 33.6 percent of the non-citizen population.