(Ezekiel Loseke, Headline USA) State legislatures have seen a surge in non-American-born legislators elected, which corresponds with a record number of foreign-born people voting in America.
Foreign-born voters “are among the fastest-growing portions of the electorate,” according to Axios.
Still, it noted that they “are vastly underrepresented at all levels of elected office.”
A new report from the activist group New American Leaders shows 296 foreign-born people are serving in America’s state legislatures, taking up 4% of American legislative seats.
That number is up from 258 when the group issued a its 2020 report and represents a 5% growth in foreign-born people governing America.
New York added nine foreign-born politicians, California added five, Bernie Sanders’s Vermont added one, as did Iowa.
According to Axios, this growth in foreign-born politicians corresponds with the doubling of immigration since 2000. Pew Report demonstrated that one in 10 voters in America was born in another country.
New American Leaders, which seeks to help foreign-born people and their children become elected in America, told Axios that the growth in non-American-born politicians is not organic but fostered by policy.
“[A] lot of the gains that you see are in places where there are investments in new American leadership and new American communities—whether it is voter access or having new Americans on the ballot,” it said.
Axios reported that 90% of foreign-born politicians are Democrats.
Forty-two percent of the foreign-born people elected to office are Hispanic, it noted.
In comparison, 35% are Latino, and 15% are black. Apparently, no foreign-born white people were elected to office.
Like much else in America, the story of foreign-born politicians is a tale of two cultures. While the bluest states saw a surge in foreign-born politicians, eight of the reddest states (Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi, and South Carolina) have elected no foreign-born politicians. Just so, Florida, Alabama, New Mexico, Maryland, and Maine voted out non-American-born politicians.
