About 25 million eligible voters in the United States are naturalized citizens—roughly one in every 10 people who can vote—and their numbers have more than doubled since 2000. That is one of several snapshots in a new Pew Research Center roundup, which also looks at young adults and religion, public comfort with artificial intelligence in health care, and views of immigration enforcement.
The findings offer a picture of Americans’ beliefs and choices that is more mixed than a simple divide between generations or political groups. Since 2020, the shares of Americans who identify with a religion, pray every day, say religion is very important to them, and attend religious services at least once a month have stayed steady. Adults ages 18 to 22 stand out in one respect: they attend services at a relatively high rate. On the other measures, they are less distinct from other age groups.
The roundup also describes naturalized citizens as a growing part of the electorate. These are people born outside the United States who later became U.S. citizens. Naturalized eligible voters tend to be older than eligible voters born in the country, and most have lived in the United States for more than 20 years. The figures show how long-term residents who became citizens make up a larger share of the voting public than they did in 2000.
In health care, most U.S. adults are open to artificial intelligence, or AI, handling or helping with administrative work. Examples include translating for a patient, setting appointments, ordering prescription refills, and taking notes. But that openness declines when AI would make or shape decisions tied directly to a diagnosis or an insurance choice. The contrast points to a boundary in public comfort: people are more accepting of help with routine tasks than with decisions that can affect care or coverage.
Views of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, have also shifted. A majority of Americans, 56%, now say they have an unfavorable view of the agency, compared with 35% who view it favorably. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to rate ICE positively, but views have become more negative among both political coalitions over the past year.
The roundup’s election note looks ahead to Minnesota and Tennessee, where both major-party candidates for governor are women. As a result, each state is all but certain to elect its first woman governor next week, according to the report. Together, the findings show change in the size of the electorate and in public views, alongside steadier patterns in religious life. They also capture a moment when voters are weighing new technology in health care and watching a historic milestone approach in two states.