Thread: Univision Gives Citizenship Drive Unusual Lift

Univision Gives Citizenship Drive Unusual Lift
By Wall Street Journal.



Backed by the largest Spanish-language broadcast network in the U.S., a massive campaign by Latino media and grass-roots groups to spur millions of eligible Hispanic residents to become U.S. citizens is showing results that could influence the agenda and outcome of the 2008 election.

More than eight million green-card holders — that is, legal permanent residents — are eligible to become U.S. citizens, and the majority are immigrants of Latin American origin, according to U.S. government data. Now, Univision Communications Inc. is using its considerable clout with the Spanish-speaking community in the U.S. to turn this latent voting bloc into an active and potentially potent force.

The citizenship drive, which is about to go national, could help turn Latinos into a key electoral constituency in several states. A larger bloc of new Latino voters would likely influence the immigration debate that has been dividing the country. In part because of this, Hispanic voters in recent elections have tended to cast ballots mostly for Democrats. For instance, in the 2006 congressional contest, Republican candidates who take a harder line on illegal immigrants than their rivals garnered only 31% of the Latino vote. (See related article.)

Apart from immigration, Hispanics are animated by education and employment policies, so their greater participation could shape candidates’ stances on those issues as well. Given past voting patterns, “a surge in naturalizations will benefit Democrats at least twice as much as Republicans,â€

Sickening...

[i]Given past voting patterns,[b] “a surge in naturalizations will benefit Democrats at least twice as much as Republicans,â€