By: James Porter
Over 8 years ago, Abeba arrived in the United States with a visitor’s visa at New York’s JFK Airport, en route to Washington, DC. She came by herself from Ethiopia leaving behind her family, and everything she knew. Abeba was granted asylum in 2004 and later received a green card in 2005. With the help of distant cousins, she began to settle into a community with other Ethiopian nationals in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Abeba currently works for CLINIC in the Office of Finance and Operations. She became a citizen last Friday, July 8th in Baltimore, Maryland with family, friends, and the extended CLINIC family proudly looking on.
Below is an interview I conducted with Abeba about what has become her American story.
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Q: What made you want to be a citizen?
A: I love America. I have adapted to its culture. Wherever I go, I like to feel as if I belong. So for me, becoming a citizen gave me a sense of belonging in this country that I love.
Q: What excited you the most about becoming a citizen?
A: Freedom. I felt that America was the mother of freedom, and I wanted to be a part of that. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press.
Q: What were some of the challenges about coming to the U.S.?
A: The first thing isn’t a challenge really, but an observation. It was shocking to me the amount of poverty here. It’s very different from what you hear about the U.S. in Ethiopia. The picture of the U.S. that you have is very different from the reality.
English is a very hard language. It took me longer as an adult to learn it, and I still have some problems with it today. There is also a cultural difference. It took time to understand what the American culture really was. One difference is that Americans are more closed off and less familial with strangers, they are not as warm. In Ethiopia, you say hi to everyone. It is an insult if you pass somebody and you don’t say hi to them. If someone drops something, you rush to pick it up. It’s not that way in America. People look down, don’t offer to help each other, don’t say hi.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is eligible to become a U.S. citizen?
A: People think it’s harder than it is. But if you say, Yes! I can do it! – then you can do it. You have to make the decision that you want to do it and then put your mind to it. I also had great help and support, and that is very important.
Q: How did it feel as you were saying the oath of allegiance?
A: It felt good. I was proud. I was happy to be where I am today and thankful to everyone who helped me achieve this. It was something I really wanted, and I can finally say I have it. The judge’s words were really inspirational. She was relating her own family’s immigration story to ours, and it was very welcoming.
Q: How did you learn about CLINIC?
A: My parish has offices downstairs from CLINIC’s offices and I got in contact with some of the CLINIC staff telling them I was looking for a job. I started part-time at first, but have been with CLINIC for 5 years. CLINIC really has become like a family for me. Everyone has been so supportive and willing to help me during this process. I have felt a lot of love.
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Naturalization is a core service of CLINIC’s local affiliate agencies, and is central to CLINIC’s mission of serving low-income immigrants. Naturalization empowers immigrants to fully participate in our democracy, and is a benchmark of immigrant integration. It is estimated that roughly 7.9 million immigrants are eligible for naturalization.
Over the past 14 years, CLINIC has managed more than a dozen national, statewide, and regional citizenship assistance projects funded by federal, state, and private funders. These projects, involving over 60 affiliate agencies across the country, enabled over 80,000 poor and marginalized immigrants to receive professional assistance in filing their citizenship applications. The projects also provided English and citizenship classes to prepare immigrants for the citizenship test and promoted the civic participation of immigrants in their communities.
Currently, CLINIC operates a national capacity building project from the federal Office of Citizenship that is helping four affiliates in immigrant-impacted communities to establish new programs in citizenship application assistance and citizenship preparation classes. CLINIC also provides trainings on naturalization law and advocates for the needs of vulnerable immigrants in the naturalization process.
For more information on naturalization from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) click here.
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