The dream of citizenship

Gaining citizenship is a privilege available to foreigners who have met certain requirements. It is also the greatest aspiration for immigrants who have decided that our country is their home and that they will live out their lives in this land.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) estimates that between today and September 23, almost 18,000 immigrants will become naturalized in 180 ceremonies throughout the country.

This is a dream that will become a reality for these people, many of whom have traveled a long road to reach this moment. That is the same path that millions of immigrants probably aspire to, no matter their immigration status.

Citizenship is a burning issue in immigration reform.

The Senate’s bill has a 13-year path. In the House of Representatives, there are many lawmakers who oppose it, since they consider it an undeserved reward for those who entered the country illegally. This opposition has to do with the Republican fear that naturalized citizens will be Democrats, as if in more than a decade, there would be no political changes.

That is why Citizenship Day, which is celebrated today, comes at a very special time. It is an occasion that lets all those people who have built their lives in this land—despite remaining undocumented—dream of fully becoming part of a nation that gave them opportunities they did not find in their country.

Those who were born in this generous land, like many lawmakers who oppose reform, should not look down on foreigners who day by day work to earn a place in the U.S. Eventually, the main factor that differentiates them from one another is the luck of having been born here.