New Americans Represent a Record 10% of Electorate

This year, more than 23 million U.S. immigrants will be eligible to vote in the presidential election. That’s up 93% since 2000 and now represents a record high of 10% of the electorate, according to Pew Research Center. About 65% of new Americans are either Hispanic or Asian, with immigrants from Mexico making up the single largest group, at 16% of foreign-born voters. And among these two groups voters, participation rates are fairly high. Over half voted in 2016, compared with 45–46% of the U.S. born eligible voters. In this important election year, we decided to look a bit deeper into this group of voter. Mario H. Lopez, president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, gives us his insight.