The Trump administration is making it harder for newly naturalized citizens to exercise their freedom to vote.
A new rule enacted by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) prohibits nonpartisan civic engagement groups from providing voter registration and education services at administrative naturalization ceremonies — a longstanding tradition that educates and encourages new Americans to participate in the political process.
Now, only government officials are allowed to provide voter registration at administrative naturalization ceremonies, a shocking rollback of the time-honored role that civic engagement groups have played in this process for decades. This unnecessary restriction is both illegal and unconstitutional.
Campaign Legal Center, on behalf of the national League of Women Voters (LWV) and a number of state and local Leagues, has sued to end this anti-voter policy.
Tens of thousands of new Americans may be denied assistance in registering to vote as part of their naturalization ceremony.
In 2024 alone, the League provided voter registration services at 950 different administrative naturalization ceremonies, where LWV members and volunteers assisted a total of 31,877 newly naturalized citizens in registering to vote.
Since USCIS issued its revised rule in August, however, Leagues across the country have had to cancel 166 planned voter registration events at administrative naturalization ceremonies, where members and volunteers expected to register approximately 10,000 new voters.
The new USCIS policy violates the First Amendment.
Encouraging voter participation is protected speech under the First Amendment for both individuals and organizations. Helping Americans register to vote and cast their ballot is a protected constitutional right.
The new USCIS rule is an attack on these First Amendment values.
Nonpartisan civic engagement groups are at the core of our democracy, and civic-minded organizations and their members and volunteers who help Americans register to vote should be supported and celebrated, not targeted and punished.
The new USCIS policy violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
Enacted in 1946, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) was passed to ensure transparency and opportunities for public input when enacting new guidance and rules and to protect against unfounded agency actions that could ultimately harm Americans.
USCIS’s restrictive new rule fails on both counts. The agency did not engage in required notice and comment process before enactment, and its new policy inflicts unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions on civic engagement groups like the League of Women Voters.
The new policy prevents the League of Women Voters from working to better our democracy by helping all eligible Americans participate in the political process and limits opportunities for newly naturalized American citizens to register to vote. The new USCIS rule regarding voter registration is unlawful under the APA.
This isn’t the first time nonpartisan civic engagement groups have been under attack.
Campaign Legal Center has litigated to protect the work of civic engagement groups in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri and Montana, and it stands ready to defend the rights of LWV and state and local Leagues to assist new citizens in registering to vote.
We cannot have a strong democracy unless we have laws that ensure all voters, including newly naturalized citizens, can access the ballot box. Any attempt to limit the freedom to vote is an attempt to silence American voters.
Campaign Legal Center has been at the forefront of protecting the freedom to vote through litigation, advocacy and work with local partnerships and coalitions — and that work continues now.
Join us today to help our efforts to build a stronger democracy by encouraging and celebrating voter participation for all Americans.