Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition

Civic Engagement

Through citizenship promotion, voter registration, and turnout, PICC works to build immigrant electoral power and to address barriers to the civic participation of underrepresented immigrant communities.

New Citizens = New Voters

New Americans, which include naturalized U.S. citizens or children of immigrants born after 1965, are a growing voting block in the United States.  Nationwide there are 11.7 million New American voters1.  In Pennsylvania, more than 300,000 New Americans are registered to vote2, which can make a big difference in an electoral swing state like ours!

PICC is committed to ensuring all new citizens are given the opportunity to register to vote, and the information they need to exercise their newly obtained rights. Our volunteers attend weekly naturalization ceremonies at the Philadelphia USCIS office to provide non-partisan voter registration assistance to all new US Citizens.

“Voting is a powerful process, which I learned when my first vote brought forth a new president. I learned how to use the voting machines at PICC’s forum in Allentown in the fall and am honored to help others to register and learn about voting.”   Yeka Kilikpo, originally from Liberia, who registered to vote with the help of PICC following his citizenship ceremony in 2008.

In addition to voter registration assistance, we provide education about voting rights, identification requirements, and language assistance through annual phone banks and informational mailings. All of our work is non-partisan.

Learn how to register to vote in Pennsylvania


1 Immigration Policy Center: The New American Electorate: The Growing Political Power of Immigrants and Their Children. October, 2008.
2 Immigration Policy Center New Americans in the Keystone State: The Political and Economic Power of Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Pennsylvania. July 28, 2009.