U.S. citizenship

Recently at the NHIOP, I had the incredible opportunity to witness 51 individuals from 24 different countries take the Oath of Allegiance and become full-fledged citizens of the United States. When I considered the sacrifices that were undoubtedly made by all those who made this journey, I could not help but be deeply moved. One speaker, an immigrant himself, aptly captured the gravity of the moment when he referenced the American flag in his speech. While gesturing to "Old Glory," he encouraged the new citizens present to embrace the flag as their own. By taking the Oath and becoming citizens, he told them that they had each become a fiber, a thread interwoven into the fabric of the American flag as well as American society. As citizens, it was their responsibility to protect the flag of the country they had worked so hard to become a part of.

The entire ceremony lasted approximately an hour and ended somewhat anticlimactically with the quiet distribution of Certificates of Naturalization. In my mind, such a moment required streamers, confetti, and perhaps even a few pyrotechnic displays. Having interned in a congressional office this past summer, I was familiar with some of the obstacles immigrants faced on their path to obtain citizenship. In the city where I worked, there was a large Somalian refugee population. Consequently, our office handled the immigration cases for some of these individuals, many of which had been pending for years. Prior to this internship, I had never given much thought to those people who gave up the familiarity of their home countries, left behind family and friends, and travelled to a country that was, quite literally, foreign to them. I quickly learned how dependant the fates of immigrants are on the bureaucratic decisions made by Citizenship and Immigration Services. I watched the elation of families that learned that their case had been approved and, conversely, I saw the heartbreak of those who did not receive such favorable outcomes.

Like the majority of American citizens today, I received my U.S. citizenship through birth; I did nothing to earn it. It is difficult for me to imagine the lack of freedoms, rights, and security that inspire immigrants to uproot their lives in order to come to the United States to make a better life for themselves and their families. Too often, we treat those very institutions that preserve our rights and privileges with a complacency that breeds ignorance. Providing fodder for this argument, a USA Today poll conducted in 2008 revealed that 56% of Americans could identify Paula Abdul as a judge on American Idol, but only 43% knew that the Electoral College was the assembly that elects the president. Worse still, 20% of respondents answered that the Electoral College "trains those aspiring for higher office."