Every Voice Counts: Becoming a Citizen and the Importance of Voting: The Immigrant Experience

Chiara St. Pierre, Managing Attorney, Immigration Legal Services, International Institute of New England

This webinar took place on Tuesday, October 27. 2020.

A recording of the Every Voice Counts: Becoming a Citizen and the Importance of Voting: The Immigrant Experience webinar is available.

In the early years of the United States, residency and citizenship laws on voting varied by state. Up until the 14th Amendment in 1868, which guaranteed citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the U.S. and paved the way for citizen-only voting, laws were still inconsistent. Therefore, immigrants have not always had a voice in the electoral process or been able to run for office. Immigrants who become naturalized citizens are granted full participation in the civic life. How does the naturalization process work? Why is citizenship so important to immigrant communities?

Remote Learning Modules: Document Collections

With these primary source collections, companion questions, and writing prompts, high school students take an in depth look at a topic, analyze documents, draw conclusions, and find relevance. These modules fit right into Google Classroom, or any learning management system, so teachers can collect students’ work.

How Citizenship Laws Change Throughout U.S. History

This webinar addresses the following standards from the new MA Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks:

  • Topic 4.1. Explain the different ways one becomes a citizen of the United States.
  • Topic 4.2. Describe the rights and responsibilities of citizens (e.g., voting, serving as a juror, paying taxes, serving in the military, running for and holding elected office) as compared to non-citizens.