On the 18th of August 2017 I became a citizen of the United States. I didn’t exactly rush into this, I had already lived in the US for about 20 years. But there becomes a time when you start to care about what is happening around you. You understand things at a deeper level and have a concern for the shared future.
I didn’t need to become a citizen, as a US permanent resident you can do pretty much everything a citizen can. In my case it was more about making a commitment and recognising the reality I was living. Living there all those years I never encountered any feelings that made me feel like outsider or pushed me to citizenship. My American family were always welcoming and treated me very much as one of them. Americans as a rule are welcoming and often curious about outsiders and life beyond. It’s how the country started and continues today - and unfortunately, in some parts it doesn’t hurt to be an English speaking white guy.
The only times I ever felt really ‘apart’ were during interactions with the immigration process. An immigration office nurse speaking to me in Spanish - a blank stare from me - and prompting my wife to dryly point out that ‘he speaks English’. More sinister were the rent-a-cop security guards who tried prevent me from accessing a critical appointment at the immigration office - a fake uniform combined with a gun, and lots of petty power over peoples future. I feel for those less language fluent and less aware of how the system works.
So on that day my wife and I walked to the federal courthouse in Reno, and after months of filling in forms, and attending interviews and tests, I was sworn-in as a citizen. The judge in his speach pointed out that one of the roles of a citizen was to understand our new country and to make an effort to learn about the issues that face it. That often there are no easy answers and many things can take thought, curiosity and a search for knowledge to discover truth.
Finally I remember the woman in the red dress. It was cut low, fitted and completely “inappropriate” for such an important day. And like many things in Nevada easy to judge wrongly. The judge asked if any of the newly minted citizens had any observations. The woman in the red dress spoke. She had grown up in the middle-east and spoke of the repression and dogma that women endure. She did not want this for herself, and importantly for her daughter. She wanted them to live a country that was free for a woman to act and live as they choose - and so she wore the dress that day, because she could. With tears I remembered how blessed I have been to live in and be a citizen of two free countries.
As we walked home along familiar streets, everything felt slightly and importantly different, I now belonged in a fundamental way.
Photos - Kemah, Texas July 4th parade 2009.
