{"id":8650,"date":"2024-11-14T11:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T11:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/?post_type=article&p=8650"},"modified":"2024-11-13T22:13:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T22:13:47","slug":"101-steps-to-becoming-an-american","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/cah.ucf.edu\/floridareview\/article\/101-steps-to-becoming-an-american\/","title":{"rendered":"101 Steps to Becom<\/del>ing an American"},"content":{"rendered":"

I.<\/p>\n

1. Wake up at four in the morning. Your bags are waiting for you, and your grandma and uncle are getting the car ready. The ride to the Caracas International Airport will take several hours, and the flight from Caracas to Atlanta will take eight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Six months prior, your mother left for the U.S. You knew she moved there permanently, but this didn\u2019t bother you. Your house was big; your family was big; you had lots of friends, lots of toys, lots of everything. You\u2019d visit her in America, but only visit. Then you\u2019d return home, where you belonged.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Every year prior, as the midnight clock crossed from December 31st to January 1st, your mother scurried across the street with you in one hand and a small suitcase in the other.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Things were not so bad yet. There were rumors of a rigged election. Rumors of plans for a rewriting of the Constitution for extended presidential terms. Rumors. Protest. Peaceful protests. Marches with everyone wearing flag shirts, flag hats, flag face paint. For the Republic. For democracy. But things were not so bad.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Citizenship offers many benefits and equally important responsibilities. When you naturalize, you agree to accept all of the responsibilities of becoming a U.S. citizen. You agree to support the United States, its Constitution, and its laws. In return, you gain all the rights and privileges of citizenship such as the right to vote and travel with a U.S. passport.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. During your naturalization interview, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration officer will ask you questions about your application and background. You will also take an English and civics test.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. American Government: What is the supreme law of the land? The Constitution. What does the Constitution do? The Constitution sets up the government, defines the government, and protects the basic rights of Americans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. Board your first airplane.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. Get excited. Look out the window and see the airport shrinking, the city coming into full view, clouds passing, and your home fading into a map\u2014like the ones in geography class.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. You will have a layover in Atlanta, but you will arrive in Salt Lake City at approximately 3 p.m. the next afternoon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11. Use the only English you know to tell your name to the flight attendants. Try first-class food. Watch the newest movie. Try third-class food. Puke. Learn how to say \u201cWhere ees de bathroom?\u201d Try Rice Krispies Treats for the first time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12. Be excited. This is your first flight, your first time traveling outside the country, and your first time visiting Mom.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

13. American History: What is one<\/span> reason colonists came to America? Freedom. Political liberty. Religious freedom. Economic opportunity. To practice their religion. To escape persecution.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

14. Geography: What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States? The Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

II.<\/p>\n

15. Circle back to English class. All you can remember is \u201cCat,\u201d \u201cDog,\u201d \u201cMy nem ees\u2026\u201d You\u2019re going to need all of it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

16. Things are not so different here. There are buildings and houses. Gas stations. People. But it is<\/em> different, though you can\u2019t put your finger on it. The air is unfamiliar. You feel like a little fish in a big ocean, far from the lake in which you grew up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

17. Unpack your bags, go explore, eat your first BLT. Your first burrito. Your first American cheeseburger. It won\u2019t have ham, or fries, or three different cheeses, or garlic sauce, but it\u2019s still good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

18. Experience snow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

19. Discover ChapStick: have your life changed forever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

20. Change<\/em> is what everyone craves when they say they want to travel. Change. The only unchangeable force in the universe. Too little change and life gets stale like bread; too much change too often, and change can get unnerving like a roller coaster. Just the right amount can make one distracted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

21. Sign up for school. It\u2019s okay, you\u2019ll only be here for a year or two with Mom. Then you\u2019ll go home. Then you\u2019ll have plenty of stories to tell everyone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

22. Repeat 5th grade. It\u2019s because of your birthday. You will now be a year behind all of your friends when you go home. Two years, in fact, since school goes until 11th grade there. But you\u2019ll do great. In fact, you\u2019ll learn English faster than the other English Language Learners at your school because you\u2019re so addicted to trading card games, and all of the cards here are printed in English.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

23. The food will be weird. But what it lacks in seasoning it will make up for in cheese. You will be fine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

24. \u201cPoh-taah-toe-eh.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

25. No, no, it\u2019s, \u2018Poe-tay-toe.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

26. \u201cThat\u2019s what I said.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

27. \u201cThegypshingocars.\u201d \u201cThegypshangotcars.\u201d \u201cThegyptiangodcards.\u201d \u201cThe Egyptian God Cards.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

28. \u201cYes, teacher. I will come to your house Sunday.\u201d Wait, what? \u201cI will come to your house Sunday, right?\u201d Oh! You will come to my house someday<\/em>. I get it. But, no, don\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

29. Naturalize<\/em>: To establish a plant or animal so that it lives wild in a region where it is not indigenous. To alter an adopted foreign word so that it conforms more closely to the phonology or orthography of the adopting language. To regard as or to cause to appear natural. To admit a foreigner to the citizenship of a country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

30. Scratch your head over and over and over again. Here, almost no one knows anything about where you\u2019re from. Most cannot place it on a map. Most will mistake you for being from Mexico. The Middle East. Samoa.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

31. \u201cYou\u2019re not in Kansas anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

32. Some naturalized species can become invasive by either direct competition with native species or genetic pollution through hybridization that can add to negative environmental effects to the native species.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

33. In any situation you come to, there will be the fear of the unknown. They do not know you and where you are from. Therefore, they will fear you. Fear may at times disguise itself as hatred. Hatred is nonlinear: It attaches itself to things in the future and\/or the past, despite the irrelevance of either in the current context. You will likely not realize this is happening at first. Thus, you will continue to smile and socialize and eventually feel the volume of a massive, unseen roadblock in your attempts to do these.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

34. Some naturalized species, such as palms, can become ecosystem engineers, changing their habitat and creating new niches that affect their ecosystem positively. The potential and\/or perceived positive impact of naturalized species are, however, less studied than the potential and\/or perceived negative impacts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

35. Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived? Native Americans. What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves? The African people. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803? The Louisiana Territory. Name one<\/span> war fought by the United States in the 1800s: The Mexican-American War.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

36. Learn quickly. Pay attention. This is a test. This is all a test. Everything you do from now on. Everything.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

37. Everything is new, and therefore exciting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

38. After three or four years, tell your mother that you\u2019ve decided to stay. Be happy. This will be a great new experience for you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

III.<\/p>\n

39. Ask yourself, \u201cWhat am I doing here?\u201d Your mother worked for the Governor\u2019s Office. Your aunt traveled the world. Your uncle was a police officer. Your grandma is a retired professor. Your house was one of the biggest on the block. Ask yourself, \u201cWhat am I doing here? In this one bedroom apartment, with no one around who knows us, without a penny in our pockets, in this borrowed room with all of our belongings crammed on top of each other, unable to pay rent, living off the charity of others, more and more in debt. With no one around. From one place to another, nowhere to settle.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

40. Sell your soul to Satan. Just kidding. But join a gang, or something that\u2019ll make you feel good. Everyone\u2019s doing it. At least all your friends: the ones from Mexico, Bosnia, Thailand. You\u2019re fourteen, what else are you going to do? Prep for college? Yeah, right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

41. Geography: Name one<\/span> U.S. territory: Puerto Rico. U.S. Virgin Islands. American Samoa. Northern Mariana Islands. Guam.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

42. Rights and Responsibilities: What are two<\/span> ways that Americans can participate in their democracy? Join a civic group. Give an elected official your opinion on an issue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

43. Tell your mother not to worry. It\u2019s just one D-<\/em>. You\u2019ve always been a good kid; it\u2019s just a slump. It\u2019s not like the time you got caught shoplifting clothes from the mall. That was out of necessity; you didn\u2019t have any money to buy clothes. This is because it\u2019s cool; everyone is doing it. After all, you left all your toys and clothes back home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

44. Get in a fight. Or two. Everyone is doing it. You have to protect your territory. Your girl. Your status. But go to the hospital afterward because they\u2019ll have caught you off guard and jumped you and left you so bruised your mom will almost faint when you get home. She\u2019ll want to yell at you, but she won\u2019t because she\u2019ll be too scared. She\u2019ll break the piggy bank to take you to the nearest hospital and watch over you all night to make sure you take your painkillers. Maybe you\u2019ll have lost the fight. Maybe it will never have been in your favor. But you\u2019ll feel, from that long night of bandages and tears, that the person who got hurt the most was not you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

45. The next day, realize that your friends are not who they say they are. That your life is not going the way you want. That you have a right, no, a responsibility<\/em> to your mother, to yourself, to everyone else, to get it together. Then, as 9th grade ends, ask your mom to move you far away where you can start over.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

46. Holidays: Name two<\/span> national U.S. holidays. New Year\u2019s Day. Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

47. Eat your first Thanksgiving meal. Your mom\u2019s friend from work invited you two. Take whatever friendships come your way. As long- or short-lived as they may be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

48. Try cranberry sauce. Smile. Be pleasantly surprised with the mushy pile of vegetables and bread they call stuffing<\/em>. Fall in love with yams. Have seconds, thirds, and fourths. Sit. Smile. Say what you\u2019re thankful for. It\u2019s not like home, but it\u2019s nice. This you can get behind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

IV.<\/p>\n

49. Work. Work hard through high school. Maybe you\u2019ll go to college. Maybe you\u2019ll find a scholarship for undocumented immigrants, though you wouldn\u2019t know where to find such a thing, and neither will your mom. Maybe you\u2019ll get lucky. Somehow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

50. Celebrate. Your mother\u2019s boss is willing to pay for your college tuition. It\u2019s just one year of culinary school, but it\u2019s a lot. He\u2019s willing, though. And it means much, much more to you. So you\u2019ll work hard, harder than anyone else in your class. Then you\u2019ll work hard after. After you\u2019ve finished and thrown food up and down hot pans all around the city. People will take advantage. They will invite you to work a test weekend, training, a trial, to see if you\u2019re qualified for the job, then determine you are not eligible because you are undocumented. Then they\u2019ll hand you a twenty-dollar bill for your three days of labor, and they\u2019ll smile because you are not eligible. They will pay you minimum wage for the same labor your coworkers are doing because you are not eligible. You will have to leave many, many jobs prematurely. And you\u2019ll keep working. You\u2019ll work until you find somewhere that will take you, risk and all, and give them your all in return. Weekends. Holidays. Late notices. Duties that don\u2019t belong to you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

51. Learn quickly, pay attention, this is a test. You\u2019ve decided to stay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

52. American Government: What are two<\/span> rights in the Declaration of Independence? Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of happiness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

53. Experiment.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

54. Get lost in yourself. This is the land of opportunity, and you feel like you have none. You\u2019re in your prime. Realize there\u2019s nothing here for you and you need to spread your wings and move somewhere else. Start fresh. Try Texas. It won\u2019t work. You\u2019ll miss home, your mom, your sister, your friends. Return. Try new hobbies. Buy new clothes. Lots of new clothes. Look like an American. Eat like an American. Spend like an American. Get stuck. Your wings will be too heavy. Find yourself somewhere else.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

55. Dream. The winter nights here are long. Winters are long.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

56. Find a spouse. Get married. Be careful who it is. Everyone will doubt that it\u2019s love. Everyone will wonder if you\u2019re doing it for the papers. The papers. The papers. You will wonder if you\u2019re doing it for the papers. Don\u2019t. Just live. Love. Dream.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

57. Have children. They will make you more American. You didn\u2019t expect this to happen. Could this really be you? The immigrant with children who don\u2019t speak their home language? Don\u2019t eat their home food? But they do. This<\/em> is their home. This is all they know. And you will love them anyway. And you will share your<\/em> home with them, through memories and food and maps and dreams. Because you\u2019re a dreamer. And some dreams never die.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

V.<\/p>\n

58. Cultural bereavement<\/em> is the experience of an uprooted person or group that results from the loss of social structures, cultural values, and self-identity. The person, or group, continues to live in the past and is visited by supernatural forces from the past while asleep or awake. They suffer feelings of guilt over the abandonment of a culture and homeland. They feel pain if memories of the past begin to fade but find constant images of the past (including traumatic images) intruding into daily life. They yearn to complete obligations to the dead and feel stricken by anxieties, morbid thoughts, and anger that mar the ability to get on with daily living.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

59. It has been decades since you decided to stay. Decades since you\u2019ve seen the rest of your family, and things have gotten worse. Much worse. But what can you do? You are seas and seasons away. And here, you are nothing. A speck. You have no power to do anything. And it\u2019s getting much, much worse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

60. Rights and Responsibilities: What are two<\/span> rights of everyone<\/em> living in the United States? Freedom of expression. Freedom of speech. Freedom of assembly. Freedom of petition. Freedom of religion. Name one<\/span> right only<\/em> for United States citizens: The right to vote in a federal election.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

61. Back home things have changed. A forest after a wildfire. But flames still burn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

62. Your family sends you pictures. Videos. You see the news. You can\u2019t recognize any of it. There is hope, always hope. Hope that things will return to the way they were, but everyone knows, deep down, that things will never be the way they were. What is left is a dream. A dream of a forest, years after a fire, flourishing again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

63. Somewhere along the line, you got distracted. You\u2019ve changed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

64. Toss and turn in your bed, night after night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

65. Somehow, your mother has stayed the same all this time. This is surprising and comforting. She is, like you, nothing here but still manages to do something. Of this you will take note. You will take note of the years of extra work she and many other freshwater fish put in: the thrift store shopping for new clothes, the food bank visits, the loans, the title loans, the payday loans, the altitude of the chin, the friendships lost and gained, the reset button after an accident, the autopilot, the way a fast food restaurant can suddenly become a palace for a celebration, the piggy banks, the miracles, the indestructible smile, all to give a portion to everyone struggling who stayed home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

66. To have freedom to do anything is to have power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

67. See yourself succeed. Find a new career. Find a home. Find a purpose. See your mother succeed. After years of work. And work. And work. See her find money and time and purpose in helping family, and peace of mind as you join her. When did you find it all, you don\u2019t know. It all just \u201chappened\u201d as you forged ahead, like a slow-moving river, eventually ending up in the ocean.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VI.<\/p>\n

68. The civics test covers important U.S. history and government topics. There are one hundred civics questions on the naturalization test.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

69. It\u2019s July 6th, and you tell your mother that your test is tomorrow. \u201cMaybe I should give you the pamphlet so you can study for when you apply for citizenship, Mom.\u201d No, no. It\u2019s too early for that. \u201cYou should begin to study now.\u201d Your mother shakes her head, and grandma jumps in: Okay, who was the first president of the United States? Your mother\u2019s eyes widen, and she looks for a lifeline: The one who\u2019s sitting on the chair? \u201cNope, that\u2019s not it. Boy, Mom, that\u2019s the easiest question. If you can\u2019t get that one, how are you going to pass the test?\u201d All I know is that Independence Day is July 4th, she says with a smile.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

70. Take your two-year-old daughter to the July 4th celebration at the park. Flag shirts, flag hats, flag face paint. You\u2019ve had dozens of these, and it\u2019s time for you to give her some of what you\u2019ve had. Take her to the playground, get her an inflatable ball, feed her cheeseburgers with no ham or garlic sauce, take her to watch the parade, and dance with her to country music.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

71. You have never liked country music. Your spouse told you that it\u2019s the appeal of the simple life that is attractive about it. Family, friends, simple comforts. You\u2019re skeptical. Most country music stars wear as much bling as 50 Cent in his prime. No. It\u2019s something else, and you can\u2019t put your finger on it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

72. Somewhere down the line, country music became a symbol of fear. Was it the kids with cowboy hats on the playground who made fun of your accent or the guy at work with a country accent that never lent a hand? Was it college or the news or one isolated incident hidden from your sight for years? You don\u2019t know. But somewhere down the line, you decided country music was not for you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

73. Face your fears. Dance to country music with your daughter and your mother and her friends. You will dance surrounded by white folks trying to enjoy their 4th of July. Look at them and listen to the rhythm of the music and remind yourself why the Pilgrims came to America.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

74. After a few line dances, the speaker will say that in the audience \u201cwe have a lot of folks that speak Spanish,\u201d and he wants to apologize now because he doesn\u2019t know a single word of what he is about to say. Then the band plays \u201cLa Bamba\u201d by Ritchie Valens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

75. Enjoy the music.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

76. Go home. Get a good night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

77. There are one hundred civics questions on the naturalization test, and you know most of them. You study harder and harder as the day of your test approaches. You\u2019ve never had test anxiety before, but this is different. Your spouse tests you to prepare.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

78. How many U.S. Senators are there? We elect a Senator for how many years? Who is one<\/span> of your state\u2019s Senators now? The House of Representatives has how many voting members? We elect a Representative for how many years? Name your Representative. How many justices are on the Supreme Court? Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now? What is the name of the Speaker of the House? There are four amendments to the Constitution about who can vote; describe one<\/span> of them. Name three<\/span> of the original states. What did Susan B. Anthony do? Who was the president during WWI? Who was the president during WWII?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

79. What is one<\/span> promise you make when you become a United States Citizen? To be loyal to the United States. To defend the Constitution. To obey the laws. To do important work for the nation if needed. To serve in the military if needed. To give up loyalty to other countries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

80. Tell your spouse, \u201cLet\u2019s see how well you do: What is one<\/span> important thing Abraham Lincoln did?\u201d He was inducted in the Wrestling Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

81. Let\u2019s ask your mom. \u201cMom, name one<\/span> U.S. territory.\u201d Texas.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

82. Arrive on time to the interview. Be polite. Look clean. Smile. The interviewer is young and serious. It\u2019s a small, beige office with a large desk and a pile of your previous applications for deferred action, work permits, a green card, green card limitations removal, and citizenship lying on the edge\u2014a history of your formal communications with the United States. A lexical map of the geographic locations where you\u2019ve lived since you arrived. A picture of a long journey. A dream. And the interview begins.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

83. You don\u2019t have time to settle in. It\u2019s fast. The interviewer asks about your life, not just here and now, but everywhere and at all times, even outside the United States. They ask about your criminal record, your spouse, your children, your parents. You doubt every answer you give. They review your citizenship application. They ask ten questions from the civics test so quickly your hands drip with sweat by the end. And just like that, it\u2019s over. Sign here, review this. This is for your records.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

84. Just then, you notice something on the naturalization sheet. Somewhere in the middle of a series of formal identifying information lies a phrase, \u201cFormer country of nationality: Venezuela.\u201d You pause\u2026 This moment is what you\u2019ve been waiting for for the past twenty years. You sign here: you agree to become a United States Citizen. Naturalized. Accepted. No more twenty-dollar bills for hours and hours of labor. No more jumping from job to job because of your \u201cstatus.\u201d No more selling yourself to anything or anyone you don\u2019t have to. No more anxiety when you see a police officer. No more long winters. No more empty dreams. It\u2019s here and now. But you hang on to that word as it echoes in your mind: former<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

85. You look at the interviewer and say, \u201cEverything looks good, but I have one<\/span> question\u2026 does the U.S. allow dual citizenship?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

86. The interviewer is surprised: You mean\u2026 Venezuela?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

87. \u201cI mean, do they require that you give up citizenship to your previous country?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

88. They pause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

89. Well, you\u2019ll have to look at the U.S. policy; essentially, no, some countries require that you denounce all ties to former countries; the U.S. is kinda in the middle of the line for all of this; you\u2019ll have to look at the policy on this, it can be kinda tricky; did that answer your question?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

VII.<\/p>\n

90. Once a person feels accepted\u2014at home, somewhere\u2014they begin to protect that somewhere. A large wall surrounding the city. A large army. A law or two. Once sufficient physical\/external protection has been implemented\u2014and at times as<\/em> it is being implemented\u2014a socio-personal\/internal defense mechanism is simultaneously employed. An immunity system consisting of social norms, traditions, pack mentalities, and identity narratives. This antibody-type response even works at an individual level, after most external and internal social threats have been subdued or eliminated, past the time of immediate danger, even when distanced from the place of belonging.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

91. \u201cPerhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition\u201d (James Baldwin, Giovanni\u2019s Room<\/em>).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

92. Crave your native tongue. Yearn for it. Long for it. For decades, you swam in foreign waters, and it was exciting. Now, as you move closer and closer to the shores of this dream, your soul thirsts for the fresh waters of that little lake where it all began. Music, literature, art, movies, television, friendships, food, history. More than ever, you want to resurrect the past, research it, dance with it, and walk hand in hand into the night.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

93. \u201cMaybe your country is only a place you make up in your own mind. Something you dream about and sing about. Maybe it\u2019s not a place on the map at all, but just a story full of people you meet and places you visit, full of books and films you\u2019ve been to\u201d (Hugo Hamilton, The Speckled People: A Memoir of a Half-Irish Childhood<\/em>).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

94. Although the Oath of Allegiance to the United States speaks of renouncing \u201callegiance and fidelity\u201d to other nations, U.S. immigration law does not explicitly address the topic of dual citizenship. The best summarization of the U.S. government\u2019s position on dual citizenship lies in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion explaining that \u201ca person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

95. Just because the United States allows dual citizenship, however, doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that your country of origin does too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

96. Claims of other countries upon U.S. dual-nationals may result in conflicting obligations under the laws of each country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

97. Receive your approval notice and Oath Ceremony notice. The naturalization ceremony is a solemn and meaningful event. The United States Citizenship and Immigration office asks that you dress in proper attire to respect the dignity of this event.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

98. Appear at the ceremony with your spouse. The rest of your family will wait for you outside to celebrate. You\u2019ve said so much up to this moment; the only appropriate thing is silence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

99. \u201cLanguage is the only homeland\u201d (Czes\u0142aw Mi\u0142osz).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

100. You are reminded of a quote a friend introduced you to: \u201cThe love of one\u2019s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?\u201d (Pablo Casals). You translated to see how this sounds in Spanish. You like the quote, but you hate when online quotes appear without citations because you are never certain if they are true. In this case, it\u2019s not the quote that resonates with you but the idea behind it that lingers. It doesn\u2019t matter if Casals actually said it; someone said it, and that makes the words real. Like sand on a warm beach.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

101. Decide that change is not bad, that fish can swim in fresh and saltwater, and that a person can\u2014and often does\u2014have more than one home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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