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RNC announces new immigrant initiative to help ‘future voters’ prepare for naturalization test

July 14, 2022 | | Print Article

As swarms of illegal migrants continue to flow over the U.S. border with Mexico, the Republican National Committee announced on Thursday a new minority outreach initiative “designed to help future voters prepare for the civics portion of the naturalization test.”

Called the Republican Civics Initiative (RCI), RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said it is an example of the right’s commitment to “purposeful education and engagement.”

“The RNC is growing our Party through purposeful education and engagement,” McDaniel said in a statement. “Our commitment to provide opportunities for all to live out the American dream is broadening our base because our ideas transcend all backgrounds.”

“Unlike Democrats,” she said, “Republicans do not take minority communities for granted and we will continue to work to earn each vote ahead of November.”

“The course for those hoping to become naturalized citizens is approximately 10 hours long and spread across four sessions with a celebration at the completion of the course,” the RNC explains. “Lawful permanent residents will learn basic U.S. civics and history based on questions that could appear on the civics portion of the naturalization test like ‘When was the Declaration of Independence signed?’ and ‘How many branches of government are there?'”

Training material for the course has been adapted from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) curriculum and certified USCIS instructors pulled from the RNC Strategic Initiatives staff will teach.

“More than 9.2 million lawful permanent residents (LPR), ‘green card’ holders who legally reside within the United States who are unable to vote in federal elections or hold federal office, are eligible to naturalize as of January 2021,” the RNC states. “Most LPRs currently reside in our target states, meaning staff and community centers are already nearby to help them become naturalized citizens.”

Nearly 2.5 million of those LPRs are from Mexico.

Long assumed to be a consistent, reliable Democrat-voting bloc, Hispanic voters have been steadily shifting towards the right in the wake of the Biden administration’s radically woke policies.

In late February, American Wire News reported on a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) survey which showed that the margin of Hispanics favoring Democrats tanked a whopping 20 points after just one year of life under President Joe Biden.

According to the NRCC at the time, the numbers could mean only one thing: “Hispanic voters are moving decisively away from Democrats.”

Turns out, issues such as inflation, education, crime, unemployment, and border security are just as important to Hispanics as they are to other Americans.

In May, Doug Schoen, who once served as an adviser to former President Bill Clinton, stated that Democrats should be focusing on better border security and a pathway to citizenship, offering school vouchers for Hispanic communities, and funding, rather than defunding, the police if they wish to hold on to Hispanic votes — issues Schoen said Dems have been “largely silent on.”

While Dems may not have heeded Schoen’s advice, it is clear by the RNC announcement that Republicans did, and their outreach will, according to the press release, extend beyond just working with the USCIS.

The RNC will also be “working with nonprofits across the country, including Civics Fundamentals, as it delivers the civics curriculum,” the release states.

Doral, Florida, will be home to the first training course, held on Thursday at the RNC Hispanic Community Center.

According to the RNC, “additional trainings [will] be held in battleground states across the country including Texas, Georgia, Nevada, California, Pennsylvania and more.”

Melissa Fine
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