Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 4, No. 3 | Easing the Transition from Immigrant to Citizen

The path to citizenship may be both lengthy and complex, but for many immigrants, the process is a road they are determined to follow—with a little help along the way.

For Carlos Enriquez, July 11, 2006, was a very special day because it was then that he attended a Naturalization Oath Ceremony in Illinois and became a citizen of the U.S. Enriquez, now a 35-year-old professional working in international business and business administration, had come to the U.S. on vacation nine years earlier from Colombia and was impressed with this country. “The United States is a country that, if you work hard and do the right thing, you can go far, with no problems and without thinking that someone might kidnap you,” he explains. “You have the opportunity to go as far as you want to go.”

By the time he became a U.S. citizen, Enriquez had been a legal permanent resident for more than eight years, but he had not begun the naturalization process, in part because he had been told by other immigrants that it was difficult, even impossible. But Enriquez had begun to think of the U.S. as his home. “When I went to Colombia for a vacation, I felt homesick for the States,” he says. Then a television commercial that explained the benefits of becoming a citizen caught his attention. The commercial was sponsored by the New Americans Initiative, a partnership program of the state of Illinois and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), which also sponsors citizenship workshops. When Enriquez heard the commercial, he decided to attend one of the workshops to learn more about becoming a U.S. citizen. “The New Americans program was so helpful; they made it so easy,” he says. “I became a citizen in six months.”

On the day he took the oath of citizenship, Enriquez donned his best suit and asked his girlfriend, Julia, who attended the ceremony with him, to take his picture to mark the occasion. On the same day he applied for a U.S. passport, which is now one of his treasured possessions. Two weeks after his oath ceremony, he and Julia were married, and on Election Day November 2006, he exercised his power as a U.S. citizen, casting a ballot here for the first time. Each of these landmark events has been marked by a photograph, and on June 23, 2007, another photo was added to his album when his wife gave birth to their daughter, Gabriella. Recognizing how valuable the New Americans program was for him, Enriquez now volunteers once a month at the citizenship workshops, helping others, he says, “ in the same way that they helped me.”

Carlos Enriquez receiving his
Certificate of U.S. Citizenship

Photo courtesy carlos enriquez

Path to Citizenship
Enriquez is only one of more than 23,500 immigrants who have been assisted in the citizenship application process by the Illinois New Americans Initiative citizenship program that began early in 2005 and has received praise from many quarters, including Alfonso Aguilar, Chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship. This program was funded by the state of Illinois for $3 million per year for three years, and funding has been extended for one more year, at a level of $3 million. The citizenship workshops aim to help integrate immigrants into the American mainstream by helping legal permanent residents with their N-400 citizenship applications and providing them assistance with other parts of the citizenship process, including preparing for the test. Often 350 people come to the once-a-month Saturday workshops in Chicago and about 150 attend one of the suburban workshops, with parents frequently attending with their children. At the registration table, the immigrants are asked to show their green cards and to sign an agreement to give clear and honest information. After a lawyer or paralegal reviews these materials, the applicants then meet with trained volunteers who help with the application forms. A photograph and an exit review complete the process. In addition to these workshops, community-based organizations, including schools and places of worship that are grantees of the New Americans Citizenship Initiative, provide assistance on a daily basis. The initiative also helps immigrants put down roots with referrals to English and citizenship classes, helps them prepare for the citizenship test, the in-person interview and the oath ceremony.

Among the fifty states, Illinois ranks fifth as an immigrant-receiving state, with 1.6 million immigrants. Nearly 350,000 legal permanent residents of Illinois are currently eligible for citizenship and an additional 142,000 people living in the state will soon become eligible, meaning that they hold a green card and will soon have lived in the U.S. for at least five years. Yet, annually, an average of only 32,000 legal permanent Illinois residents go through the naturalization process. Recognizing the need to reach out to these residents, the citizenship program has launched an informational campaign on Spanish-language media, with commercials such as the one that prompted Enriquez to begin his naturalization process. Enriquez is not alone. The number of immigrants applying for citizenship in the Chicago region increased from 28,000 in 2005 to 38,000 in 2006, a 33 percent increase.

Requirements for becoming a citizen include holding a green card and living in the U.S. for five years. Waiting many more years than that to apply for citizenship may mean that residents will have a more difficult time completing their citizenship applications because they then must supply details of their lives for many years, including information about their children, dates of travel outside the U.S., dates and nature of employment and various addresses where they have lived. “There is a tremendous need to educate legal immigrants about the importance of citizenship and the steps they need to take to become citizens,” explains Karla Avila, director of the New Americans Initiative. “The ten-page application goes through your whole background and requires dates about many things. This can mean keeping track of a lot of information and some people became legal permanent residents 20, 30 or even 40 years ago.”

The complex barriers that cause immigrants to wait many years to decide to apply for citizenship include the lack of a cohesive national policy and the fact that immigrants are often confused about how to proceed or are afraid to ask for help. Maria Estela Bautista emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico 30 years ago when she was nine years old. Her parents were already living in the States, and they drove to Mexico to bring Maria to live here with them. “I was so happy we were going to America,” she recalls, adding that she remembers that on the drive to Chicago her parents stopped in several places to show her some of their new country. Bautista now works as a parent mentor at the Morrill Elementary School in Chicago, tutoring students, assisting teachers and helping in the school office. The mentor program is sponsored by the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), which is one of the community service organizations funded by the New Americans Initiative. Bautista says she knew about the N-400 citizenship form for years but only recently made the decision to apply when her SWOP coordinator suggested she attend a citizenship workshop. Bautista and her husband, Juan, who are the parents of four school-aged children, attended a workshop in March and are happy that they did. Although there can sometimes be a long wait when a workshop is crowded, Bautista says the process was organized. “Everything is set for you as long as you have all the information you need. That’s what I liked about it, that they were ready for you.” Reflecting on her experience in the U.S., Bautista says, “People who have the residency [requirement] should apply for citizenship. It is better to be legal in all ways, and we can make something better for our future and for our country, the United States.”

As Director of Immigration Services for the Polish American Organization
(www.polish.org), Grazyna Zajaczkowska draws on her experience as an immigrant to help educate others about issues ranging from employment and domestic violence to immigration services. Certified by the Immigration Board of Appeals, the Polish American Organization provides bilingual and bicultural services primarily to the Polish community living in Illinois. Zajaczkowska’s father emigrated to the U.S. in 1973, but her mother and younger sister could not emigrate to the U.S. until five years later, in 1978, and Zajaczkowska had to wait until 1980 to get a passport and join them. It was not until 1995 that Zajaczkowska was able to gain her U.S. citizenship. “When I see all those cases [that come to the Polish American Organization], I know what those people go through,” she says. “I went through the whole process and for two years was undocumented. We need a new workable legal system for immigrants. Nothing has really worked so far. Let’s hope we will figure out how to do it better in the future.”

Next page: “We need a new workable legal system for immigrants. Nothing has really worked so far. Let’s hope we will figure out how to do it better in the future.”
—Grazyna Zajaczkowska, Polish American Organization

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