The roughly 7.4 million foreign nationals who are eligible for naturalization in the U.S. could help swing the election in five battleground states, The Hill reported Thursday.
Citing a report from the American Immigration Council, The Hill reported that the foreigners eligible for naturalization outnumber the 2020 margin of victory most acutely in Georgia and Arizona.
In Arizona, 164,000 people are eligible to apply for citizenship and the 2020 vote difference there was 10,457 in President Joe Biden's favor. Biden's margin of victory in Georgia was roughly 11,700 votes in 2020, and there are more than 153,000 people eligible for naturalization in the Peach State, according to The Hill.
Further, The Hill reported:
- In Pennsylvania, more than 653,000 are eligible for naturalization; Biden's margin of victory in 2020 was more than 81,000.
- In Nevada, Biden's margin of victory was more than 33,600; north of 100,000 are eligible there.
- In Wisconsin, Biden won by roughly 20,700; more than 41,000 are eligible in that state.
It's unlikely that all 7.4 million eligible foreign nationals will naturalize in time for November, given the eight months it takes from application to receiving their certificate of citizenship, according to The Hill.