A sign is posted at a voter registration booth outside a naturalization ceremony at the Los Angeles Convention Center on July 23, 2019.
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Mario Tama/Getty Images
Nongovernmental groups are now barred from registering new voters at naturalization ceremonies, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced.
The policy, which was issued Friday, says “that only state and local election officials will be permitted to offer voter registration services at the end of administrative naturalization ceremonies.”
Groups like the League of Women Voters criticized the decision. They often partner with local and state election officials or supplement their work to administer registration services — and that includes during naturalization ceremonies.
Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters, said in a statement that this new policy “is an attempt to keep new citizens from accessing their full rights.”
“For decades, the League of Women Voters has been a trusted partner of both USCIS and federal courts to register new voters at naturalization ceremonies,” she said. “This work has resulted in hundreds of thousands of new citizens registering to vote with League volunteers across the country.”
USCIS wrote in the policy memo that the use of nongovernmental organizations for voter registration at naturalization ceremonies “was sporadic and varied based upon the location.” USCIS also claimed that ensuring the groups are nonpartisan was a “burden” on the agency.
“Given USCIS does not…