The first two groups have severely limited political activity for apparently opposite reasons. The immigrants mostly come from countries with undemocratic political institutions in which political activity is unfamiliar, constrained, prohibited, or outright dangerous. They presume that any attempt to achieve major changes in the policies of the government through open political activity will subject them to risks of economic exclusion or outright legal retaliation such they would suffer in their home countries. They remember how the noble goal of civil rights and equality of opportunity bred the welfare programs and the government schools that have institutionalized the underclass status of the mass of their brothers and sisters. In other words, the immigrants are insufficiently familiar with the political system and the converts are all too familiar with it.
Converts are especially active in the areas of mass mobilization.
The immigrants who are most actively involved in political campaigning seem to be the Pakistanis. This is to be expected since Pakistan is the Muslim country with the longest tradition of multi-party politics. For many years American Pakistanis were courted by Pakistani politicians who came here seeking votes for elections in Pakistan. For the children of the Muslims, their goals are varied and I believe that as significant a fraction of them are as interested in political participation as are found in any other religious group. There is evidence for growth in the involvement of a number of Muslim organizations in promoting political participation.