Ming Hsu Chen, Adrian Ballesteros, Emily Cole, Joy Min
Volume 77, November 2025
This policy paper examines civic engagement among new Americans, focusing on factors that influence the sense of belonging and political participation, particularly among recently naturalized Asian Americans, Latinos, and Arab Americans. The study, conducted by the Center for Race, Immigration, Citizenship, and Equality (RICE) at University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (UC Law SF) in collaboration with the New Americans Campaign (NAC) at Immigrant Legal Resource Center, reveals three key findings:
- “American-ness” Viewed as Identity and Belonging: For new Americans, identification with being “American” turns on their sense of belonging, not merely on formal citizenship. The sense of belonging is facilitated by perceiving America as a multicultural society that welcomes immigrant integration.
- Community Participation Impacts Subsequent Civic Engagement: Civic engagement for new Americans begins in local community groups, which are often ethnic-specific or religious. These bonds positively impact the development of a national identity and motivate naturalization.
- Civic Engagement Can be Informal or Institutional: New Americans participate in society in various ways. A majority engaged in non-institutional forms of participation and, contrary to conventional wisdom, even more people voted.
Altogether, these key findings carry significant implications for researchers, policymakers, and community organizations. To promote civic engagement for new Americans, they suggest a need for programs that emphasize particularized cultural belonging, in addition to celebrating a unified national identity. These particularized programs must consider barriers to national citizenship and civic participation such as language, religion, racial identification, and pre-migration experiences with government. At bottom, more must be done to support naturalized citizens’ strong desire for belonging and civic involvement in America.