The number of people applying for U.S. citizenship has risen dramatically from last year despite a higher application fee. Some experts say this is because of the anti-immigrant (read: anti-brown) views prevalent in the country today. Fishily-named spokesperson for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund For Long-Ass Named Societies, Evan Bacalao, shared his thoughts with the LA Times:

“The anti-immigrant sentiment is bordering on the xenophobic, and people are taking notice of that,” said Evan Bacalao of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund in Los Angeles. “So even though the fees have increased, people still want to make sure their voices are heard.”

To help boost the number of new citizens even more, an alliance of hundreds of organizations last week launched a “100 Days” national campaign to urge immigrants to apply for citizenship in time for the 2008 election.

You can bet your sweet, sweet ass that new Latino citizens are going to be encouraged to vote so hard in the upcoming presidential election, hanging chads everywhere will collectively ascend back into the bodies from whence they came.

Citizenship applications climb despite fee hike [LA Times]