[SM: This article speaks to the linkage between naturalization, voter registration and the immigration protests of 2006.]

Registering to vote a priority for Houston’s new citizens
The application rate has jumped recently, possibly because forms are now passed out before the swearing-in
By JAMES PINKERTON, Houston Chronicle
September 12, 2007

Minutes after being sworn in Wednesday morning as a U.S. citizen, Roger Negron had already registered to vote and was filling out a passport application.

As Negron stood near an exit, the voice of a League of Women Voters volunteer boomed as she collected voter registration cards from hundreds of new American citizens streaming out of the Berry Center arena in northwest Harris County.

”Voter registration! Turn in your voter registration! Congratulations,” shouted volunteer Judy Viebig. ”That’s great! We’ll mail you your card.”


Meanwhile, U.S. Postal Service official John Martinez made sure the new citizens had plenty of U.S. passport applications. Also making the rounds were Labor Department investigators handing out information on federal wage laws.

The swearing-in ceremony at the Berry Center, part of the Cypress-Fairbanks school district, featured a full court press by volunteers and government officials intent on giving the 2,444 new Americans from 119 nations what they needed for their first day on the job as citizens.

And as a record number of immigrants are applying for citizenship in Houston, more and more are seeking a key citizen privilege at the naturalization ceremonies: voting.

During the first six months of this year there were 17,740 citizenship applications filed in Houston, compared with 9,786 during the first six months of 2006. That’s an 81 percent increase. Nationally, filings for citizenship increased by 59 percent for the first five months of this year, compared with the same period in 2006.

Linda Cohn, co-chairwoman of the voter registration committee of the League of Women Voters of the Houston Area, said the 66 percent hike in citizenship application fees that took effect July 30 motivated many to file.

”And immigration is a very hot issue,” Cohn said. “Remember at the marches last year when they said, ‘Today we march, tomorrow we vote!’ ”

Negron, a 54-year-old Mexican native who has resided here legally since 1978, said he sought citizenship because he “owed so much to this country.”

“It’s time to repay the country,” Negron said. ”And the most important is the vote. … It’s very exciting to be part of the political life.”

A majority of the citizens sworn Wednesday agreed with him. As the ceremony ended, most of those handed in a completed voter registration card.

”We registered 1,855 new voters today out of 2,444 citizens, and that’s 76 percent. That’s awesome,” said Marty Morrison, an associate director of community services for Harris County.

Cohn said the voter registration numbers can be attributed to a simple reason. This summer, officials with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services allowed voter registration cards to be handed out just before the swearing-in ceremony begins. That allowed people to fill out the forms while they waited.

During six large citizenship ceremonies in Houston since January, more than 8,000 citizens have registered to vote.

And after U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes administered the oath of citizenship, the jurist reminded the new Americans they would be asked to vote not only on candidates for political office, but on tax increases and changes in the state constitution or city charter.

”You vote a lot in America. In fact, now that you are really Americans, the next thing you will do is complain about too many elections,” the judge joked. ”You have a direct hand in managing your government. Use it, we need help.”