New U.S. citizens like Ignacia Jáquez of Santa Fe will keep a close watch on upcoming local and national election campaigns for candidates who address issues that concern her: the availability of jobs, access to health care and comprehensive immigration reform.

Jáquez, a 52-year-old housecleaner, is a Mexican immigrant who gained legal U.S. residency status during President Ronald Reagan's immigration reform in 1986. She has two New Mexico-born daughters, including a 20-year-old who has registered to vote.

In September, Jáquez will be among more than 100 naturalized citizens who gain voting privileges by taking an oath at a Santa Fe ceremony planned by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Department.

They will join growing ranks of Latino, Asian and black voters in New Mexico and the U.S. as a whole, according to data in a report released this month by the Immigration Policy Center in Washington, D.C. While New Mexico already is a "minority majority" state, the growing numbers of new citizens such as Jáquez will affect elections, many experts agree.

In New Mexico, where about one in three voters is Hispanic, an increasing number are immigrants or children of immigrants, the policy center points out in its report, titled "Latino and Asian Clout in the Voting Booth: Census Data Underscores Growing Power of Minority Voters."

In just four years, the report said, the number of Latino voters nationwide increased from 7.6 million in 2004 to 9.8 million in 2008; Asian voters went from 2.8 million to 3.4 million; while black voters increased from 14 million to 16.1 million. In contrast, the number of voters classified as non-Latino white went from 99.6 million to 100 million during the same period.

Political candidates have to tweak their campaigns to take into account these minority groups' needs, said Wendy Sefsaf, communications manager at the Immigration Policy Center.

"They have to keep in mind the fastest growing group of voters ... eventually it's going to turn around," Sefsaf said. "Latinos and Asians are becoming more sophisticated and election savvy. In some cases, these voters can swing an election."

On Thursday, President Barack Obama and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano met with immigrant advocates, faith leaders, and labor, business and law-enforcement officials to listen to their concerns and reaffirm Obama's commitment to comprehensive immigration reform.

Locally, Mayor David Coss, who is running for re-election in March, said he has always acknowledged immigrants because they are also "part of the community" and have demonstrated strong organizing potential.

"I don't think we'd have a living wage in Santa Fe if it weren't for the immigrant community," said Coss, who helped pass an ordinance imposing one of the nation's highest minimum-wage requirements on both public and private employers. "The labor, faith and immigrant communities were the driving force behind the living-wage movement."

Coss, whose campaign slogan features a Spanish phrase, "A city that works for all of us — Un lugar para todos," also said the upcoming annexations in the city's heavily Hispanic southwest sector will affect future mayoral elections, since about 20,000 people will become eligible to vote in municipal elections.

Harry Pachón, president for Tomás Rivera Policy Institute in California and a University of Southern California professor of public policy, said the changing electorate speaks of what America has become.

"These numbers show that the U.S. has become a multicultural nation," Pachón said. "Before, minority issues were black and white. Now they're multi-ethnic."

Contact Sandra Baltazar Martínez at 986-3062 or smartinez@sfnewmexican.com.