WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released new guidance that will prevent nonpartisan, non-governmental organizations from offering voter registration services to newly naturalized citizens at naturalization ceremonies. The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) released the following statement in response to revised policy guidance from USCIS:   

Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “This policy change will bar service organizations, nonprofits, and NGOs from engaging new citizens, which will only stifle civic participation. For decades, these nonpartisan groups have volunteered time and resources to help newly naturalized Americans register to vote and strengthen our democracy. The reversal by USCIS damages long-standing partnerships with community entities and local field offices—partnerships that have endured through both Republican and Democratic administrations. This new policy rule by USCIS is a blatant attempt to suppress the naturalized vote, weaken our democracy, and prevent full civic participation for all Americans.” 

Said Elizabeth Sweet, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, “Forcing new citizens to jump through additional hoops to obtain their right to vote is another attack against immigrants and their constitutional rights. MIRA assists immigrants throughout the citizenship application process, and since 2024, has successfully registered well over a thousand new citizens at dozens of naturalization ceremonies to vote. Preventing organizations that new citizens know and trust from registering them to vote is not how democracy should function. This decision from the Trump administration does not make our elections more secure; it is a guise to create roadblocks around new citizens registering to vote.”

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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of 88 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 42 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.