OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

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Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 31, 2024
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I rise to introduce the INVITE Act.

This legislation would require USCIS field offices to offer voter registration assistance at naturalization ceremonies to ensure that newly naturalized United States citizens are able to fully participate in our democratic process.

This legislation would designate USCIS field offices as voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act and require them to support new citizens in registering to vote, including providing the registration application, offering assistance in completing the application, and returning the application to the State election official or agency.

It would significantly expand the agency's voter registration efforts to encompass all new United States citizens, not just those naturalized through USCIS administrative ceremonies.

USCIS policy currently only requires the agency to ensure that voter registration forms are distributed to new United States citizens at their naturalization ceremonies--not returned to the appropriate State election agency--and also fails to reach new United States citizens who are naturalized at judicial ceremonies or without a formal ceremony.

During the recent midterm elections, just 61 percent of all naturalized citizens were registered to vote, compared to 70 percent of native-born Americans, due in part to distinct obstacles, such as language barriers, that new citizens face.

The National Voter Registration Act has proven to be an effective tool for voter registration, with departments of motor vehicles accounting for almost 40 million new voter registration applications from 2018 to 2022.

USCIS, like the other agencies designated under the National Voter Registration Act, interacts with a significant population of eligible but unregistered voters. In 2022, the agency naturalized more than 900,000 new U.S. citizens.

New United States citizens deserve to be supported as they exercise their right to political participation, as guaranteed by our Constitution.

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