I wrote about this study in yesterday’s Capitol Fax. I was a bit surprised by the results and I’m wondering what you think.
A study shows the number of naturalized citizens in Illinois since 2000 has increased, with the most growth occurring in state legislative districts now held by Republicans.
The numbers, compiled by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, underscore the changing face of the suburbs as new immigrants increasingly arrive and settle outside of Chicago. The findings imply future voting blocs that could wrestle political power from some longtime Republican strongholds. […]
According to the report, the average percentage increase in naturalized citizens is 62 percent higher in Illinois’ Republican House districts than in Democratic House districts — 22.4 percent vs. 13.8 percent — and 42 percent higher in Republican Senate districts than in Democratic Senate districts — 21.2 percent vs. 14.8 percent.
Of 10 House districts that saw the highest growth rate in naturalized citizens, nine are held by Republicans. The 10 Senate districts that saw the highest growth rate in naturalized citizens have seven seats held by Republicans.
You can download the complete report by clicking here.
- dan l - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 6:50 am:
Color me unconvinced. Personally, I believe that if it weren’t for the nativist crowd, I would think that a large percentage of immigrants might just go [R]. Culturally, a good deal of them are both devout and cultural Roman Catholics which would make them pro-life, anti-SSM, etc, meaning they could be just as easily scooped by the ‘pro-family’ crowd as they could be by the ‘free g-cheese’ dems.
- Truthful James - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 7:16 am:
When the numbers themselves aren’t large, percentages become a more spectacular use of data.
We are talking about citizens here. Not illegal aliens. Congratulations to the first group wherever they might come to rest. They have made a commitment to stay.
And yes, they are more conservative than the average bear. The Coalition is hoping that they can leverage these citizens to work for an illegal cause. It remains to be seen whether they can see the true light.
- the Other Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 7:41 am:
As long as the GOP continues to be increasingly anti-immigrant, these new citizens will create problems for the GOP.
Almost everyone who becomes a citizen these days has gamed the system in one way or another — mostly because our immigration laws are screwed up. The anti-immigrant stance of the GOP affects (or affected) the lives of many these new citizens. I doubt they’ll forget.
Leave it to conservatives to believe that new citizens will act to shut the door behind them. The GOP doesn’t get altruism, it seems.
- anon - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 8:08 am:
Studies like this are BS unless they show some raw numbers and not just percentages. Sure some of those suburban and downstate districts saw huge percentage increases in their immigrant populations. When you start out with one, all you need to do is have two and you have an increase of 100%. If you already had 5000, you would need 5000 new immigrants to replace non-immigrants to have the same percentage increase as the first example. And believe me, many of these districts sited in the report started out with a number closer to one than 5000.
- Honest Abe - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 8:10 am:
The question not addressed is where did the recent immigrants emigrate from? Many who came from former Communist nations in Eastern Europe tended to favor Republicans. In fact, there was a steelworker by the name of Blagojevich who had two sons… well, I guess you catch the drift. Blago’s brother, Robert, a resident of Florida, is reportedly still a GOP voter. Rod was a Republican before he hitched his wagon to the Mells and ditched his prior politics in the name of career advancement.
- Wumpus Moon Glampers - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 8:32 am:
So they don’t want to stay in dem controlled areas either? Why would they outside of cheaper housing. Better schools, safer living and so on and so forth.
Many in the GOp are anti-illegal immigrant. If you use a broad brush, at least try to get it right.
- Truthful James - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 8:33 am:
The GOP, as far as I know, is not anti-immigrant. Immigration laws are (or should be) written to permit best estimate numbers of people — with work permit visas, with student visas, and with permanent immigration visas — for other purposes to come to this country.
It should be the job of Congress and the President to estimate that number, subject to the preservation of interclass mobility for those citizens presently here.
We have created the nexus of a permanent underclass already. We must bring them into the mainstream. All of us pay substantial penalties (called taxes) in welfare and health costs. The schools are not creating value and for now three generation we have people who do not believe that education is an economic and a social good.
We do what we can, raise the minimum wage, subsidize housing, but illegal aliens are an exogenous variable which unnecessarily complicates the solution to the problem facing our own people.
There is, and I have personally observed, a large Gray Market further inhibiting a solution.
Your Generality:
“Almost everyone who becomes a citizen these days has gamed the system in one way or another”
as well as the remainder of your opinion would be laughable, if you were not using it to bolster your later point.
IT would be a smart political party which would emphasize the reasons why the immigrants came.
I grant you that there is sympathy for the situations in the former homelands. It is being used by the organizations whose interests are not national but solely to the illegal aliens who give them power.
The GOP has missed the boat on many occasions, particularly in not being able to make inroads into the tightly controlled Democratic enclaves whose residents are used to receiving the small beneifits conferred with much folderol by their political masters.
That is their loss.
BTW, in connection with the no smoking laws on which you otherwise commented. The new immigrants — Latin and Asian come from smoking cultures. I can not speak for all, but the small bars and restaurants I have seen in their neighborhoods are full of workers smoking, drinking, playing card games. They should be a source of dissatisfaction, but as the political structure realizes, most are green carded but not citizen voters. They don’t matter.
- So-Called "Austin Mayor" - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 8:41 am:
As a liberal Illinois voter, just let me say:
“Run, Jim Oberweis, Run!
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 9:24 am:
I guess it depends on how your stereotypes of immigrants convinces your political sence.
I see liberals claiming they are gullible closed minded minions, regardless of the obvious fact that gullible closed minded people don’t risk everything they know to create for themselves an entirely new life. Liberals seem to want it both ways; show compassion with other people’s money while looking down their noses at anyone who objects to their patronizing and pandering.
The only closed minded people I see are the ones that have stereotyped our new neighbors. While they claim they favor diversity, they don’t like diverse ideas, only different looking people that agree with them.
Immigrants come from a world quite different from ours. But they believe in America, and each one should be seen as a compliment to this country. They didn’t come here to be smothered by nannies and bureaucrats, they came here to be free. They didn’t come here for a hand-out, they came here for opportunities. My immigrant neighbors are admirable people, strongly pro-family, hard working, hard saving and conservative. They buy their homes and fill them with their children.
They will use their freedom to vote for the political party that promises to conserve what attracted them to America. I don’t care which party it is, but whoever promises to keep our markets open, unregulated and low taxed, will help keep America attractive to the rest of the world.
- Team Sleep - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 9:53 am:
Republicans are not anit-immigrant. We are not in support of illegal immigration and we support legal immigration. To me, that’s neither unfair nor insensitive. I would think that most legal immigrants would feel the same way. You can’t just assume that all immigrants in the collar counties would support Dems, either.
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 10:01 am:
This hasn’t been said for a long time, so I will repeat it:
Nowhere in the world can you be an illegal immigrant and expect to stay in a country. Enforcing immigration laws is what the world does. Claiming that enforcing immigration laws is being cruel or unkind is like saying it is unfair when a parade gets rained on; naive and silly.
Grow up and be an adult.
- cermak_rd - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 10:43 am:
I know a great many legal residents and new citizenships from the Indian subcontinent. Many from India, some from Bangladesh and a few from Pakistan. All of them are drifting toward the Democrats because of the Christian wing of the GOP. Yes, they are for lower taxes, more entepeneurship, less governmental regulation, but they are afraid of the religious whackos.
- Truthful James - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 11:45 am:
cermak_rd
Basically, the Asians go with the winners. In Chicago, thia would mean the Democrat Party. Find a Republican regime (hard to find these days) and they will go with the Republicans. There is nothing wrong with that and it has little to do with religion.
- Amy - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 11:53 am:
ask Terry Parke how he feels about this issue.
Fred Crespo hit new communities and he won.
- Some Guy - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 11:55 am:
I see liberals claiming they are gullible closed minded minions
I’ve seen liberals claims immigrants vote Democrat, but this one I’ve never seen.
- cermak_rd - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 12:00 pm:
Truthful,
I’ve talked to them, it’s how I know they are trending Democrat and yes, a lot of it IS religion. They are Hindus, Moslems, and Jains. They are turned off by the rampant Christianism they see in the GOP. They’re ticked at people trying to make it harder for them to get their grandparents and parents into this nation legally.
Show me a local GOP they would support and I’ll show you one that is secular without a Christianist loon-base.
- Pat Hickey - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 12:31 pm:
Truthful! 100% on target!
- Way Northsider - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 12:32 pm:
Cermak - you are spot on. Right wing Christians who have forgotten the compassion of Christ are scary to most people - immigrant and non-immigrant alike.
Vanilla man - enforcing immigration laws would make sense if the immigration laws themselves made sense. Our economic reality is that we need immigrants. Our laws are at variance with the reality. Therefore they are ignored by the majority of people, illegal immigrants and those who hire them. Once the laws make sense we can talk about enforcement. You can pass a law that water is not allowed to flow downhill. You can’t stop water flowing downhill unless you do other things like build systems to divert it.
- El Heck - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 12:40 pm:
Immigration reform must include a recalculation of the formula used in alloting visas. There are certain countries that receive visas in disproportionate numbers than others. Why is that? Say what you will, but this country will never survive without the illegal aliens and teh jobs they do. No one will do the backbreaking work they do in the fields, or the menial tasks of teh service industry for such low wages. Sure, you can argue that if salaries were higher, “legal” residents would do it, but I don’t know of anyone who would pick vegetables in the blazing heat for $20 bucks an hour, much less minimim wage. And if it were to pay that much, how long would americans tolerate paying $5.00 for a head of lettuce?
I’m just scratching the surface. This is an issue that goes beyond the tired “what part of illegal do you not undertsand” arguement. Agriculture and Big Business need illegal immigrants, and so does the rest of the country.
- cermak_rd - Wednesday, Mar 14, 07 @ 4:16 pm:
El Heck,
Let me start with saying I don’t have a problem with migrants–whatever their status, it’s usually none of my concern. However, the idea that agricultural workers must be paid an excessively low wage that no one else would put up with doesn’t sit well either. I honestly believe that the laborer should not be defrauded of his wages and that no one should have to work 40 hours a week and still be in sub-poverty (except those who have chosen to do so like nuns, sisters, clerics, and volunteer laborers). You ask how long Americans would tolerate paying $5 for a head of lettuce, perhaps the appropriate question is at what price did that $2 head of lettuce come?
- true blue - Thursday, Mar 15, 07 @ 7:01 am:
Anyone that doesn’t get that the Republicans are putting themselves in grave danger with immigrants is blind and DUMB!
Yes, they are socially conservative, but when Oberweis and Roskam do T.V. ads with Mexicans, and attack them all as illegal, the many, many legal Mexicans and their U.S. born citizen children flock to the D’s. When Cong. Kirk says he “has no problem with profiling Muslim males” and when the Christian Right takes over the Republican Party, that sends Muslims and Indians into the arms of the D’s. Russian Jews? Same thing.
That leaves the R.’s with Poles and Vietnamese, and a portion of the Koreans and Chinese! Not a huge base to start from.
Look at the last election — Parke, and 4 suburban Senate seats went D. Each Senate seat had at least 8,000 naturalized new citizens.
WAKE UP, SMELL THE COFFEE!