'New Americans' May Decide Key Electoral Races Across the Country

A new report published by the Immigration Policy Center finds that "New Americans" -- defined as naturalized citizens and the U.S.-born children of immigrants -- are now "the fastest growing demographic group in the American electorate."

The report prepared by Rob Paral and Associates for the Immigration Policy Center found that:

• New Americans Were Nearly 9% of All Registered Voters in 2006
• New Americans Registered Voters Jumped Nearly 60% between 1996 and 2004
• New Americans Share of Registered Voters Exceeded the 2004 Victory Margins in 16 States Including Battlegrounds: Nevada, Florida, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.

2008 is expected to be a banner year for New American voters due to record-breaking naturalization rates of up to three million new citizens; turbo-charged registration efforts by groups like the We Are America Alliance and "Ya es Hora, Ve y Vota;" and aggressive GOTV efforts in ethnic communities which will likely result in Latino turnout hitting record highs in 2008--surpassing the 7.6 million Latino voters who turned out in 2004.