Curt Flewelling, FISM News
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) has embarked on an effort to help immigrants who want to become U.S. Citizens. The Republican Civics Initiative (RCI) is a ten-hour training program designed to help would-be citizens prepare for questions that they could see on the civics portion of their naturalization test.
The training materials used in the sessions are adapted from curricula provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and will be taught by RNC staff who are certified instructors.
While the move by the RNC is humanitarian in nature, it also has the potential to have large-scale political ramifications as well, since a large swath of those who participate are likely to be Hispanic migrants. Based on recent data, The RNC believes that it has a legitimate chance of successfully flipping the majority of Hispanic voters before the upcoming midterm and presidential elections.
The Democrats’ seemingly unending hold on some minority voting blocs, has been falling by leaps and bounds as of late. Although Democrats still enjoy large advantages among several minority groups, Hispanic voters seem to be less loyal, particularly in the last two presidential races. President Biden’s performance among this demographic was woeful compared to that of Hillary Clinton’s in 2016, as Donald Trump gained an additional 8% of Latino votes from 2016 to 2020.
Michael Frias, CEO of the election data analysis firm Catalist, explains, “What we know is that this is a fast-growing part of the electorate, and there’s opportunity here. The race is really who’s going to invest the time, energy, and attention to learn more about these voters, engage more of these voters, and really listen to them.”
RNC Chairwomen Ronna McDaniel plans to do just that with the Republican Civics Initiative.
“The committee is growing the Republican party through purposeful education and engagement,” McDaniel stated. “Our commitment to provide opportunities for all to live out the American dream is broadening our base because our ideas transcend all backgrounds.”
Since January of 2021, an estimated 9.2 million permanent residents of the United States have not been permitted to vote because they had not yet been naturalized. This figure was not lost on the RNC, who announced that more civics training courses will be held in the hotly contested battleground states of Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.