This week LWVWA President Karen Crowley sent a letter, co-signed by LWVWA Immigrants Issue Chair Lydia Zepeda and "Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State" study co-author Susan Martin, to WA Gov. Ferguson and Attorney General Brown. 

You can read the letter below.

Dear Gov. Ferguson and Attorney General Brown:

Thank you for your leadership as expressed in your joint statement on Jan. 26 denouncing the ICE operation in Minnesota and preparing for a similar incursion in Washington state.

The League of Women Voters of Washington joins you in supporting action now to protect the rights of immigrants in our state. The national League of Women Voters of the United States issued a statement the same day, condemning “the escalating actions by ICE that put people at risk, deny individuals their constitutional rights, and undermine the democratic values meant to protect us all.”

It went on to say: “The League of Women Voters reaffirms that the rights outlined in the Constitution belong to all people, without exception. We will not accept policies or practices that suppress civic participation, weaponize enforcement, or undermine fundamental rights and human dignity.”

In 2025, LWVWA adopted a position on the rights of immigrants after undertaking an extensive study that addressed the contributions of immigrants as well as the challenges they face. That study, “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State,” and other efforts demonstrate Washington is clearly a leader in protecting immigrant rights - but we can do more.

In that vein, we appreciate your willingness to fight for just and humane policies through both legislation and action.

As we write, our League is lobbying for enactment of the bills you reference in your statement: SB  5855, SB 5876/HB 2165, and HB 2105/SB 5852 as well as several others we believe will enhance the rights of immigrants. We also support the SAFE Act, which prohibits ICE activity in sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals, and election offices; HB 2648, concerning state and local law enforcement interactions with federal immigration enforcement officials; HB 2632, modernizing terminology when referring to individuals who are not citizens or nationals of the United States; and HB 2105, Immigrant Worker Protection Act.

Additionally, we support legislation that safeguards personal information, creates remedies for violations of federal constitutional rights occurring during immigration enforcement, levies fines on private detention facilities that deny entry to the department of health for an inspection, and mandates divestment of public investment in private detention centers.

We applaud your decision as well to have Sarah Peterson, the chief of the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance, attend cabinet meetings. In fact, LWVWA’s position on Welcoming Immigrants recommends that Washington state take steps to ensure effective coordination among state agencies and other organizations that interact with immigrants and refugees, including funding to permit such coordination.

We would be pleased to brief you further on the work of LWVWA in protecting the rights of immigrants. Again, thank you for your leadership.

Sincerely,

Karen Crowley, President
for/and
Lydia Zepeda, Ph.D., LWVWA Immigrants Issues Chair, co-author of “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State”
Susan Martin, Ph.D., co-Author – “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State”

Each month, LWVWA members responsible for the Media Literacy and News Education Project share a media literacy tip with the Project for Civic Health, an initiative housed in the office of Lt. Gov. Denny Heck and which was established to foster greater civic dialogue and health. 

This is the most recent tip the League shared:  

On Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is essential for civic health because it enables you to draw sound conclusions and make informed choices. 

Using critical thinking to analyze information takes five steps: 

The hardest parts of critical thinking include admitting when you’re wrong or don’t know the answer and preventing emotions or a gut reaction from influencing your thinking. That’s because our brains don’t automatically practice critical thinking. 

Our brain has two systems. The System 1 brain is fast, subconscious, automatic, useful for everyday decisions and error prone.System 2 is slow, conscious, requires effort, helps with complex decision-making and is reliable. 

Critical thinking is the practice of engaging the System 2 brain. 

Learn more about your two-system brain in The Decision Lab.

In Jan. the League shared the following tip:

Making sense of information 
When a group of people creates a shared understanding of a complex or ambiguous situation in order to make decisions and take action, we call that collective sensemaking. 

Today, our collective sensemaking is disrupted because of a number of factors, including facts and frames that can be faulty, either intentionally or through misinterpretation. 

Here are a few quick definitions that put this into perspective. 

The media literacy tips above are from the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Washington. Dedicated to empowering voters and defending democracy, the League works to expand public knowledge and understanding of media literacy and news education as both are key to developing healthy, civically engaged communities. 

Learn more about these terms and definitions from this research article from the University of Washington Center for an Informed Public.

Susan Martin chaired the LWVWA study “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State,” which led to the LWVWA adopting a new position in June 2025. The League plans to seek adoption by national concurrence on the position in Columbus, Ohio, this summer.

Martin, a professor emerita of international migration at Georgetown University, is also the author of A Nation of Immigrants, published by Cambridge University Press. 

The piece below was originally published in the Journal of the San Juan Islands on Jan. 20, 2026

Many Americans are following the efforts of the Trump administration to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. Less covered in the press are concurrent efforts to curtail the lawful entry and stay of immigrants. I am often asked why undocumented immigrants do not come into the country lawfully.  

The answer is in the convoluted legal immigration system.  

There are multiple ways in which intending immigrants can obtain a legal status, but each has limitations. About 1 million people are granted Lawful Permanent Residents status (LPRs), also known as green cards, which provides a pathway to U.S. citizenship. About 65% come with family-based visas. 

This category allows spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens to obtain visas outside of annual quotas. It also allows the spouses and children of LPRs and the siblings of U.S. citizens to obtain visas, within per-country and per-category of entry quotas, which lead to large backlogs. Many new LPRs are already living in the U.S. 

Employment visas represent16% of LPR admissions, including the employees and their spouses and children.Most of these visas are assigned to applicants with at least a bachelor’s degree.As in the family-based visas, there are long backlogs in processing applications for employment visas, with some applicants waiting years to gain their green card.  

The number of refugees and asylees receiving LPR status (11% in 2023) varies based on the need for resettlement and number of people granted asylum.Another 4% come with diversity visas for people from countries with low U.S. immigration rates, and 4% through other programs established by Congress. 

Additional visas are issued each year for tourists, business travelers, temporary workers, foreign students, journalists, diplomats, and a slew of other reasons. Most of these visas allow recipients to remain for designated periods. If they remain after that period, they become undocumented migrants. 

Two work visas, the L.1 visa for intra-company transfers and the H-1b visa for highly skilled workers, allow recipients to remain for six years or longer, if they apply for LPR status. However, the waiting time for LPR status can be decades for applicants from certain countries, such as India, because of annual per country quotas.  

Further lawful entries and stays are made on humanitarian grounds. Temporary Protected Status (TPS), for example, allows people already in the country who cannot return home because of conflict, disasters and other life-threatening situations to remain. Humanitarian Parole allows people to enter the U.S. because of urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.   

The Trump administration is making lawful entry and stay more difficult. Some of the efforts are still in litigation or are awaiting final implementation. For example, the administration has proposed a change in the definition of public charge, which bars noncitizens who rely on government support from getting a green card even if the support is for programs such as SNAP, Head Start, and free school lunches.Uncertainty over how far the administration will go in assessing public charge is causing immigrants to refuse services for families, fearing it will make them ineligible for a green card. 

The administration has also placed full or partial bars against the admission of people from about 90 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, even if they are the families of U.S. citizens. This is a replay on a larger scale of the Muslim ban in the first Trump administration. 

The administration has revoked humanitarian parole and TPS for thousands of immigrants from countries that experience conflicts or disasters. These programs need reform but not in the way the administration wants. They do not provide a path to LPR status even when conditions in the home country are unlikely to improve. Instead of fixing the problem, however, the administration is arguing that the conditions in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, and South Sudan are indeed safe enough to lift TPS and humanitarian parole. 

Denaturalization of U.S. citizens, which often permits their deportation, is another part of the administration’s plan. According to the New York Times, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers are to file 100-200 denaturalization cases per month. From 2017 to 2025, only about 120 cases were filed. Denaturalization has generally been reserved for those who purposely lied in their application about material facts that would otherwise have prevented their naturalization, or who were found to have committed heinous crimes.  

The administration policies are also making it harder for businesses to recruit highly skilled workers. For example, a recent rule requires employers to pay a$100,000 fee per petition for a visa, on top of existing fees of about $3,000.    

Blocking lawful immigration pathways will only make our immigration system more dysfunctional. It also makes it more difficult for families to reunite, for business to find the skills they need, and to help those facing life-threatening situations.

Susan F. Martin, Ph.D., is the Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita of International Migration at Georgetown University and served as the Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration. She is the author of several books about immigration and immigrants.  Her most recent is A Nation of Immigrants: Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2021. She is co-author of the League study with Lydia Zepeda, Ph. D., Professor Emerita University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"Redistricting in WA needs a redo” reads the headline atop a Seattle Times op-ed piece published Jan. 30, 2026. 

Appearing under the bylines of state League President Karen Crowley and Seattle King League President Barbara Tengtio, the 400-word essay stems from testimony Crowley gave during a House State Government & Tribal Relations Committee hearing Jan. 21 on HJR 4209. 

The bill, by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, West Seattle-D, would allow for mid-cycle redistricting in Washington.  The League opposes mid-cycle districting, noting it “can all too easily be used to disenfranchise voters based on race or party affiliation.” 

Read the full op-ed HERE.  

The figurative phase “out of the mouth of babes” describes the insight or wisdom a child expresses that seems far beyond the youngster’s years. 

One might as readily substitute “from the hands of babes” for the creative works that youngsters produce for the League of Women Voters of Pullman Annual Visual Arts Competition. 

From stunning to solemn, sublime to simple, and fancy to frenzied, the young people’s artwork inspires and informs and reflects both talent and thoughtfulness. 

But creating art isn’t the only reason for the event. Each year’s competition features a theme about civics, based on a subject discussed in the LWVWA’s award-winning civics education textbook, “The State We’re In.”  

“I think the biggest part of our program is education,” Pullman League member and event committee chair Carolyn Joswig-Jones told the local newspaper, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, in 2022, the second year of the event. 

“It’s an opportunity for families to sit down with their children and talk about civics,” Joswig-Jones added. 

Youngsters ages 8 to 18 who attend public or private school—or who are homeschooled—in Whitman County are eligible to participate. 

Multiple winners in each age group are awarded prizes of $50 and a copy of the civics textbook. 

Last year’s theme was about honoring the relationships between Native America and the USA while highlighting Native resilience, sovereignty, and modern identity. 

“Why Does Voting Matter?” was the previous year’s theme. The second year, it was “Earth Art:  Civics and the Natural World are Connected” and the first year, “What Does Democracy Look Like to You?” 

This year’s theme will be announced Feb. 16, Presidents’ Day, as it has been the practice each year. 

“Art is away to for students to actually be creative from the material they’ve learned,” Joswig-Jones added.    

“The State We’re In” is made available to teachers and classrooms across the state in two editions, one for seventh to 12^th graders and for grades three to five.  

It covers how government works and why people should care about it. It is more inclusive than other texts as it details historic and current Tribal government as an integral part of civics education.  

Both are available as free PDFs as well. More than 23,000 copies of the books have been distributed statewide.  

More information about the competition is available here from the Pullman League.  

by Susan F. Martin, Co-president, LWV of the San Juans and Chair of the Immigrants Study, LWV of Washington

As violence escalates in Minneapolis and other parts of the country,ostensibly over the presence of immigrants in American society, the League of Women Voters of Washington is looking to empower its membership across the nation to protect the rights of all, legislatively and by way of programming.

In June, at the LWVUS 57th biennial convention in Columbus, Ohio, Washington state League leaders hope to secure national adoption of its own new policy position, “Protecting the Rights of Immigrants.”  

If they succeed, Leagues throughout the country will have the same pathway as the Washington state League to advocate and create programs that, among other goals, seek to ensure access for immigrants to essential services, such as health and behavioral health care. 

The push for national adoption of a policy position in the nonpartisan, nonprofit League takes place through a process called concurrence. Much like the run-up to a political campaign, that process involves soliciting support from other state Leagues to put the proposal in front of the full convention, which takes place June 26-28 this year. It’s a labor-intensive effort for a collection of volunteers who are involved simultaneously in other advocacy and program work in their own states and communities.  

Shelley Kneip, who carries the Program portfolio on the Washington state League board, has been assisting with the effort.  “It’s to educate the delegates on why this should be a national position, which would make it available for anyone in League from throughout the nation to use.”   

As Lydia Zepeda, the LWVWA Issue Chair on Immigrants and co-author of the study notes, “federal immigration enforcement has grown more aggressive and deadly in recent months. That makes it important to protect the rights of immigrants.  

“Also, since most immigrant families are mixed status, these policies are resulting in family separations. We need to remember that the US Constitution protects the rights of everyone in the United States, regardless of their immigration status.” 

If the Washington League’s effort succeeds in Columbus, Leagues nationwide would be able to use the policy position without having to pursue the rigorous process of study and membership consensus required for adoption of an original position. 

The Washington League adopted its position on immigrants after two years of study that involved extensive research and interviews with more than 25 scholars, immigrants, refugees, advocates, and others knowledgeable about the plight facing immigrants in the Evergreen state.    

The result of that research led to publication of a 78-page report titled “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington,” which details various aspects of the immigrant experience, including contributions, challenges and laws. The report details the League’s role with the immigrant community in Washington as well.

The report also is available for purchase from Amazon in paperback for $4.73 and on Kindle for 99 cents. 

After close review of the report, League members from across the state met over a two-month span in early 2025 to reach consensus on various premises, leading to the final policy position.  Washington League members adopted that position at the state convention in Vancouver, Washington, in June 2025.   

“All residents of the United States, regardless of immigration status or citizenship, should be treated with dignity and respect” begins the LWVWA proposal for national concurrence.  

The proposal goes on to state that “xenophobia, racism, discrimination against immigrants, and anti-immigration rhetoric must be condemned at all levels of government, business, and civil society.”  

A national position that clearly condemns xenophobia, racism, discrimination, and anti-immigrant rhetoric can buttress the work of the League in fighting the dehumanization of immigrants.   

As witnessed in Minneapolis, especially when practiced by government officials, xenophobia and anti-immigrant rhetoric can lead to violence against immigrants and citizens seeking to protect their rights.   

Racism and discrimination must be fought, as well. They affect the civic engagement, sense of safety and well-being of all people in a community.  

Both practices create barriers to the integration of immigrants and to their feeling of belonging. They also negatively affect the socio-economic well-being and reduce opportunities for the children of immigrants.

The League needs a strong and visible national position on the rights of immigrants. 

Condemning xenophobia, racism, discrimination and anti-immigrant rhetoric is just one of several issues this concurrence effort addresses.  

It also addresses access to legal and certain essential services, safe working conditions, fair pay and benefits, and the right to unionize.   

Contact Susan Martin at smartin@lwvwa.org for additional details about the Washington state effort to secure national adoption of “Protecting the Rights of Immigrants.” 

Susan F. Martin, Ph.D., is the Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita of International Migration at Georgetown University and served as the Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration. She is the author of several books about immigration and immigrants.  Her most recent is A Nation of Immigrants: Second Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2021. She is co-author of the League study with Lydia Zepeda, Ph. D., Professor Emerita University of Wisconsin-Madison.

By Dee Anne Finken, Communications Portfolio Director, LWV of Washington

Kathy Bender, a League member in Clark County, can attest to the premise that the LWV-AAUW partnership is a smart move. 

Retired after nearly 25 years as a college administrative support professional, Bender is a member of both organizations.  

Drawn initially to support the AAUW at the national level in 2018, Bender soon after began participating in the AAUW Hudson’s Bay branch in Vancouver, where she lives. Throughout her time in AAUW she's been motivated by the nonprofit's mission to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy. 

In time, Bender became involved in legislative advocacy for AAUW and now serves as a policy director on the state advocacy team. Bender noted that she’s come to discover that she and her AAUW colleagues often track and advocate for legislation similar to bills the LWVWA pursues. 

Those include measures dealing with health care and reproductive rights, including access on college campuses to abortion by medication; protection from sexual violence; and workplace equity. One of the more recent legislative issues AAUW tracks deals with artificial intelligence, including the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace 

 Bender noted that AAUW Washington contracts with Nancy Sapiro, who also serves as the LWVWA’s contract lobbyist. 

Sapiro, sole proprietor and owner of Northwest Justice Consulting, has provided guidance for the League for about decade.  

Sapiro specializes in health care, including reproductive health and end-of-life care, civil rights, economic and social justice, civic engagement and promoting policies that support working families.  

Bender joined the League just after the COVID-19 pandemic, drawn to its focus on voting.  “My mother was a poll worker and I’ve always been a strong believer in the importance of sharing civic knowledge and its application in society.” 

Of the AAUW and LWVWA partnership: “We really are better together,” Bender said. 

By Sally Carpenter Hale, Communications Chair, LWV Clark County and Dee Anne Finken, Communications Portfolio Director, LWV of Washington

The League of Women Voters of Washington and AAUW of Washington have begun conversations about ways the women-led nonprofit, nonpartisan organization can collaborate to defend democracy.

These talks follow the national League’s November launch of its Grassroots Power Partners initiative, an effort to explore the defense of democracy with other like-minded and motivated organizations.   

"Our Washington state League is looking forward to a deepened relationship with AAUW,” LWVWA President Karen Crowley said during the December presidents’ call, a monthly Zoom meeting of local League presidents and other interested League members. 

“We've already had productive meetings, connecting with local leaders from both organizations,” Crowley added. 

Emily Hitchens, president of AAUW Washington, and Sandra Distelhorst, the state organization’s public policy director, joined Crowley’s presidents’ call. Afterward, she concurred with Crowley’s sentiments.  

“Our partnership with LWV is part of the ‘stronger together’ spirit but even more, in these troubling times, sharing support and friendship is key," Hitchens said.“AAUW-WA branches across the state are welcoming League members to join in social gatherings and educational events.” 

The ultimate goal of the partners’ initiative is to increase civic participation and community collaborations to create a more inclusive democracy, the leaders said.   

For the League, it is the next phase of the broader Unite and Rise 8.5, the plan begun last May to mobilize8.5 million people to foster resilience, equity, and collective action leading up to the 2026 midterm elections. 

During the December presidents’ meeting, Hitchens and Distelhorst described AAUW Washington’s structure and goals.  They noted AAUW has 23 branches in Washington, ranging in size from nine members to 300, along with an online branch with about 1,200 members. 

The LWVWA, meanwhile has almost 3000 members in 20 local Leagues across the state. 

During the meeting, League presidents from around the state also brainstormed areas of common interest with the AAUW leaders.  

They noted the League long has focused on voter registration and education through tabling events and candidate forums, and AAUW has recently launched the “It’s My Vote!” campaign to engage voters. 

Both groups have legislative newsletters and could join forces on informing members about legislation of interest. And both had annual lobbying events with state legislators in January.  

The Clark County League already has taken steps, with the hosts of its Citizen 411 radio show and podcast interviewing the leaders of the two local AAUW branches. The show is co-hosted by League members Tracy Reilly Kelly, Teresa Torres and Rachel Bancroft. 

The hosts interviewed Hudson’s Bay AAUW chapter President Kathi Pickett and AAUW member Kathy Bender, who is also a Clark County League member (see adjoining story about Bender’s experiences).   

Earlier in the day, Kelly, the radio show co-host, had attended Crowley’s presidents’ call.  “It’s amazing how the policies and values of these two organizations align,” she said afterward.  

“As we look ahead to 2026,we know that we will be working together to make more people in our community aware of our shared issues and values and we will be encouraging them to get out and vote.” 

In Snohomish County, meanwhile, the League is working with its AAUW counterpart on formulating questions for candidate forums. 

Reaching young women is a priority for both groups. Many AAUW branches give local scholarships for its Tech Trek STEM Camp for girls, while the League has a strong relationship with the Girl Scouts.  

Participants in Crowley’s December meeting suggested AAUW could help place the League’s textbook, “The State We Live In,” in more schools. The state League also has been conducting a series of media and news literacy education workshops. 

“Our shared commitment to civic engagement and mutual belief in the importance of education provide a strong basis for collaboration. I am looking forward to hearing how local Leagues develop the creative possibilities," Crowley said. 

Kelly, the Clark County radio show co-host, added: “AAUW shares the League’s deep concerns about what is going on in America in 2025-2026. 

“No wonder we are partners. We are seeing the same things.” 

Annual Lobby Week, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Washington Lobby Team for League members, will be Jan. 26-29, 2026.

That week, during the day, members in local Leagues throughout Washington will have the opportunity to meet with their legislators via Zoom to urge legislative support for League positions.

Evenings will feature presentations by Lobby Team members—also via Zoom—that will detail key issues the state Legislature is expected to address this session.

At present, it is not clear what bills will be considered for the session, which begins Jan. 12.

But the draft agenda for Lobby Week assumes the lack of financial resources will permeate all discussions. Also, likely key will be the effects of federal changes to Medicaid, the continued lack of affordable housing and climate change.

Legislation related to these and other issues such as democracy, immigrants, criminal justice and more also will be discussed, along with talking points for all issues that League members can use when meeting with their lawmakers. 

Susan Martin chaired the LWVWA study “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State,” which led to the LWVWA adopting a new position in June 2025. The League plans to seek adoption by national concurrence on the position in Columbus, Ohio, this summer.

Martin, a professor emerita of international migration at Georgetown University, is also the author of A Nation of Immigrants, published by Cambridge University Press. 

The piece below was originally published in the Journal of the San Juan Islands on Nov. 27, 2025.

New Barriers to Naturalization
Susan Martin, Professor Emerita of International Migration, Georgetown University

Naturalization of immigrants in the U.S. is as old as the republic itself and reflects some of the country’s positive and negative history. The Declaration of Independence accused the British Crown of “obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners.” It is the seventh articulated abuse (out of twenty-eight), reflecting the seriousness of the charge. With ratification of the U.S. Constitution, responsibility for naturalization was given to the Congress, rather than the states (which had responsibility previously) or the Executive and Judicial branches of government (Article I, Section 8). As such, Congress has the power to establish a “uniform rule of naturalization”. In 1790, Congress passed its first naturalization law, granting citizenship to “any Alien being a free white person”, who shall have resided in the country for two years. The law was amended several times in the next few years. For example, one bill required applicants to wait 14 years before naturalization. A law adopted in 1802 lifted some of the more restrictive provisions, establishing a five-year waiting period, which continues to this day.

After the Civil War, Congress adopted several additional laws that affected naturalization. The 14^th amendment was key in recognizing citizenship for all of those born in the United States. The Naturalization Act of 1870 followed by granting naturalization rights “to aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent.” At the same time, the legislature denied citizenship to most Asians. This continued until 1952. In the early 20^th century, the Naturalization Act of 1906 required immigrants to learn English to become citizens. It also established the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, which was to develop uniform processes for naturalization. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plays that role now.

Congress still has the principal responsibility for establishing a uniform rule of naturalization. The current administration, however, has attempted to use its executive powers to make it more difficult for eligible immigrants to naturalize. On Inaugural Day, President Trump issued an executive order that would end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants and those with temporary work permits. This would require hundreds of thousands of persons born in the United States to naturalize, if they had a track to permanent residence, remain in the country with diminished rights, or move to a country they never knew. All federal courts that have ruled on this issue as of today have determined that the President does not have the authority to make such a glaring change in the 14^th amendment, which extended citizenship to all born in the U.S.

The administration is also trying to restrict people from naturalizing through other actions. USCIS has changed the civics and history tests administered to applicants for naturalization to make them significantly more difficult. Applicants must answer double the number of questions asked previously and respond correctly to 12 out of 20 questions drawn from 128 possibilities. These are not multiple-choice questions. The tests are conducted orally in a setting where most applicants are already nervous. I have a PhD in American Studies and found myself questioning my civics and historical knowledge since many of the questions have multiple correct answers, some of which are not on the list of answers given to applicants to study. Even before the new tests were introduced, the percent of denials of naturalization had plummeted, with a 23.7 percent increase in denials when compared with the last six months of the Biden administration.

The current administration has also made it more difficult for those granted naturalization to register to vote. New guidance prevents nonpartisan, non-governmental organizations, such as the League of Women Voters (LWV), from offering voter registration services at naturalization ceremonies organized by USCIS. Members of the LWV of Washington reported that voter registration applications have been removed from the package of information provided to new citizens.

The U.S. has had a spotty record on naturalization, often based on racial discrimination. During the past century, however, there has been great improvement. If the Trump administration policies prevail, however, the U.S. will fall far behind in welcoming newcomers. That will be a tragedy not only for immigrants but also for our democracy.