1.02 What is Citizenship?
| Question | Notes on Interviewee Response |
|---|---|
| What inspired you to become a U.S. citizen? | Growing up in Turkey, I always heard about how great it is in America, the fact that you can do almost anything there. I always wanted a part of that myself, and eventually decided to do whatever it took to become a part of that. |
| What steps did you have to take as part of the naturalization process? | Let me tell you, it was not a simple process that takes a couple of days to complete. There was an entire process I had to go through, and it was not the easiest thing either. The process involved eligibility, filling out a lot of paperwork, interviews, the test, and finally my oath of allegiance (which officially made me a citizen). |
| How would you describe how you felt about the process? | I was excited and nervous at the same time. The moment I had been waiting for all my life had finally arrived, and I did not want to screw it up. As hard/complex as the process was, in the end it was so worth going through. Because in the end, I now get to say I am a U.S. citizen, the thing I have been waiting for my entire life. |
| How has citizenship changed your life? Is your daily life different because of citizenship? | A lot has changed my life since I became a U.S. citizen. Since then, I have been able to live out my dream of living the “American Dream.” Every day now, I work to help support my family, and I hope to set a strong foundation for my family, so that future generations of my family can prosper well here. |
| Do you feel the process was worthwhile? If you had to, would you do it again? | I 100% feel the process was worthwhile. I have so many more opportunities here than I could have ever imagined having in Turkey. There is more support here, more resources, and more everything. I would definitely go through it all again if I needed to for any reason (but only if I needed to). |
| What were you feeling when you had your right hand up, taking that oath? | It was an amazing feeling, a moment in which I never thought would come. Like I said before, all I ever wanted in life was to come to America to live that “American Dream” I had heard so much about. Once that moment finally arrived, I was like “I did it! I did it!” |
The purpose of the naturalization process, in the United States, is to have a set legal procedure in which people can become citizens of the United States. It is important to have an immigration process, because it allows each individual to be properly reviewed. Without one, you would have people just walking right into the country taking advantage of our rights (and that could include bad people as well). In my opinion, no process is perfect, and there is no way for it to be perfect. There will always be both advantages and disadvantages to it, no matter what you do to “fix” it. However, in the end it still helps to process people to make sure that those seeking citizenship are worthy of having it.
Like I said before, the process is not perfect, and it will never be perfect. There is not a specific thing that I would change, however I would just make sure that the naturalization process ensures that getting citizenship isn’t as easy as “1, 2, 3.” If citizenship were that easy to get (in general), then it would be as if you were handing it out left and right. That is not the way it should be done, because we need to make sure each person getting citizenship is worthy of having it. Dishing it out does not do anybody any good.