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Immigrant Inclusion & Racial Justice

October 2012

By Manuel Pastor and Jared Sanchez

Please note: reports dated earlier than June 2020 were published under our previous names: the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) or the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII).

Released just before the 2012 presidential election, Rock the (Naturalized) Vote sought to address the questions of how important the immigrant vote is in national politics, and how important the treatment of immigration issues are to that vote. The report attempted to answer these questions by determining what share of the voting age population was recently naturalized immigrants. It also looked at where the members of this group were located geographically.

In turn, the report asserted that understanding the size and location of this population might help with targeted voter registration efforts in future elections, especially because the group may be the most motivated around immigration issues and because their registration rates may have the most room for improvement. Furthermore, registering and mobilizing this sector of voters may help contribute to a more civil and balanced conversation about immigration.

Alongside the report, the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration launched an interactive, online mapping tool that identifies the share of recently naturalized immigrants in the voting-age citizen population in the U.S. This innovative, user-friendly tool was designed to illustrate the potential importance of this vote and help target resources for more effective efforts at registration and mobilization.

 

 

See our 2016 update of this report at Rock the (Naturalized) Vote II >>

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Rock the (Naturalized) Vote: The Size and Location of the Recently Naturalize Voting Age Citizen Population
Press Release (PDF)

Read our other publications by research area

    Immigrant Integration & Racial Justice

    Our work on immigrant integration and racial justice brings together three emphases: scholarship that draws on academic theory and rigorous research, data that provides information structured to highlight the process of immigrant integration over time, and engagement that seeks to create new dialogues with government, community organizers, business and civic leaders, immigrants and the voting public to advance immigrant integration and racial equity.

    Economic Inclusion & Climate Equity

    In the area of economic inclusion, we at ERI advance academic theory and practical applications linking economic growth, environmental quality, and civic health with bridging of racial and other gaps; produce accessible and actionable data and analysis through the data tools; and establish research partnerships to deepen and advance the dialogue, planning, and actions around racial equity, environmental justice, and the built environment.

    Social Movements & Governing Power

    ERI’s work in the area of governing power includes: conducting cross-disciplinary studies of today’s social movements, supporting learning and strategizing efforts to advance dialogues among organizers, funders, intermediaries, evaluators, and academics, and developing research-based social change frameworks and tools to inform—and be informed by—real-world, real-time efforts towards a vision of deep change.

    Publications Directory

    In 2020, the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII) merged to form the USC Equity Research Institute (ERI).

    The full list of publications published under our previous and current names can be found in our publications directory.

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