For many years, volunteers for the League of Women Voters of Maine have attended naturalization ceremonies to help register new citizens to vote. During the last year alone, more than 800 new citizens have stepped up to our tables to either register to vote or to learn more about the process. The recent USCIS decision to bar nonpartisan organizations such as the League from providing voter registration information and services at naturalization ceremonies is an attempt to keep new citizens from exercising their full rights. The policy is unnecessary and only serves to decrease the ability of new citizens to participate in our democracy.
The League of Women Voters of Maine joins the national League leadership in calling for the USCIS to revoke this policy. “We are not only disappointed in the new USCIS policy, we find it an unnecessary interruption of important volunteer work,” said Jill Ward, president of the LWVME board. Volunteers come to the League to do this work to honor and celebrate our shared values around citizen engagement and voter rights. This policy runs directly counter to those values.
“The League is proud of the volunteers who are dedicated to this effort and have provided ongoing, welcoming, and nonpartisan support for citizens who are new to the United States. Our democracy is stronger for it,” added Ward.
The LWVME is also proud of its longstanding partnership with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to register new voters and provide voter information at naturalization ceremonies. This year, League volunteers have attended every Friday’s naturalization ceremony in South Portland, as well as naturalization ceremonies in Bangor and Acadia National Park.
Alina M., a League volunteer in the Portland area, attended her own mother’s naturalization ceremony years ago and reflected, “I was eight years old and I remember her feeling of pride when she took the oath of allegiance and was officially part of our country. She instilled in me a deep love and patriotism for our nation. She also emphasized the importance of voting to make our voices heard. Since last year, I have made it a priority to welcome new citizens like her into our political process as a volunteer with the League of Women Voters,” Alina continued. “These citizenship ceremonies are always deeply moving to me; I cry every single time. It makes me proud to be an American.”
“My passion as a volunteer is not to tell anyone how to use their vote, only to emphasize that their vote matters and that our country is stronger for their presence and with their participation as citizens,” Alina said. “As the daughter of an immigrant from Japan, a Marine Corps veteran and former military spouse, I believe in the power and importance of every citizen's vote.”