New Citizens From Immigrant Families Prepare to Vote in 2026

Two voters who came to the United States as children are preparing to cast ballots in their first elections, and both said their immigration histories shape how they see the vote. NPR profiled the pair in a feature published Oct. 30, 2026, NPR.

Nicole Solis-Sison, 34, first came to the U.S. from the Philippines when she was 7. Her parents and immediate family fled the Philippine government and sought asylum, a legal protection for people who say they face persecution in their home country. She said an Immigration and Naturalization Services agent suggested that her family apply for asylum while they were already in the United States.

Solis-Sison became a citizen earlier in 2026, after more than two decades in the immigration system. She is voting in her first election in New York City this year. To prepare, she created a voter guide and a voter diary. She told NPR she feels a responsibility to vote to protect people going through the immigration process who, in her view, are being left behind and harmed.

Juan Escalante, 37, was born in Venezuela, moved to the U.S. when he was 11 and grew up in south Florida. Around his junior year of high school, he learned he was undocumented. He said his parents' lawyer gave bad advice and mishandled their immigration case. His status changed under the Obama administration, when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, was established. He became the first person in his family to graduate college under DACA, and in 2025 he became the first American citizen in his family. He will vote in his first general election in 2026.

NPR reported that many young voters are focused on buying a home, paying student loans and starting a family. For some young people with immigrant relatives and for newly naturalized citizens, the reasons for voting differ.

The question of noncitizen voting has drawn national attention this year. NPR reported in August that President Trump used a Census Bureau report to repeat claims of widespread illegal voting by noncitizens. On Aug. 25, NPR reported that the Trump administration had claimed to have found 250,000 noncitizens on voter rolls in four states, and that the Department of Homeland Security conceded the numbers it touted were inflated.

Reuters reported on Oct. 28 that the administration has issued more than 100 subpoenas, legal orders demanding records, covering tens of thousands of voters in at least 13 states. The Associated Press reported on Oct. 23 that most of the immigrants federal authorities in California targeted for alleged voter fraud had applied for U.S. citizenship.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, known as USCIS, says its SAVE system can usually verify U.S.-born citizens and naturalized citizens when it receives the required data for voter registration and voter list maintenance.