Naturalization processing delays stifle eligible midterm voters

Federal data show a dramatic slowdown in naturalization approvals ahead of today’s Nov. 3 midterm election, leaving hundreds of thousands of potential voters in New England and across the U.S. in limbo. Application approvals through the first eight months of this year are down more than 70% compared to the same period last year. Lucia Martel Dow, director of the New Americans Campaign for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said some people fear they may be targeted for deportation if they even apply. “People may have no reason why not to apply for naturalization but seeing what is happening in their neighborhoods or people that they know, may definitely make them think twice of whether this is the right time to apply or they want to sit it out,” Martel Dow observed.

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