It Finally Happened. - Sincerely Shifa

It finally happened.

I’m a US citizen! Today was a huge day for my family. We came to the United States on July 4th, 2001. Ironically, Independence day. My brother was born a few months later. Meanwhile, my parents and I found ourselves entangled in the long and complicated immigration process that this country puts its immigrants through. Finally, 19 long years later, we can finally call ourselves US citizens. And, we can finally exercise the rights that go along with it. I love sharing anything and everything on this blog regarding my life. Specifically, content that any of you might relate to or find helpful. I always think twice before sharing anything personal. But, I really feel like some of you can relate with this journey so we’re going to get real.

When I came to the US, I had no idea what was going on. I was four years old and just excited about attending school, clueless about what my parents were doing. They decided to embark on the journey of redoing their entire medical education. They wanted to become physicians in the US despite being professional and practicing physicians in India. I can’t even imagine doing medical school once and taking all those exams. Then, doing it AGAIN. Especially, in another country where they couldn’t fully write or speak the language. Truly a great feat. Needless to say, after a lot of hard work and patience, they succeeded.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

When I was in elementary school in New York, I found myself doing a mock election as part of a class. It was the year George W Bush ran against John Kerry. Obviously, as an 8 year old non-citizen, I couldn’t vote. But, that didn’t stop me from participating in the mock election. I remember researching details about both candidates and the deciding factor for me seemed to be location. We walked to the cardboard ballot box in a line and the kid in front of me said he was voting for John Kerry. I distinctly remember saying “I’m going to vote for George W Bush because he’s from Texas and my family is from Texas.” Great 8 year old logic. I was so excited when he won, not knowing at all what that meant or the immense responsibility that came along with it.

MIDDLE SCHOOL.

Fast forward to middle school, I moved to a small town in Louisiana, a fairly Republican state. I attended a Catholic school. And, I can easily say that those three years were some of the best years of my life. I always look back at them fondly. As part of the Catholic school curriculum, we were required to take Religion class. During the Religion class, the teacher would reference abortion and how it’s wrong. He would speak about how killing a child in the womb is a sin and unethical.

Sixth grade Shifa got riled up and ran home to tell her mom, an OB-GYN, that the elective surgeries she performed were wrong and unethical. My mom then sat me down and we had an open discussion about abortion and the different patients she treated and their unique experiences. From then on, I did my research and formed my own opinions.

With election year upon us again, I was strongly for Obama because of the new hope and diversity he brought to the table. Once again, we couldn’t vote so we sat by and watched the election on our TV. Both terms he served, we watched as the electoral college lit up blue. It was so exciting and heart warming to be able to witness REAL change as he was the first Black president America had ever seen. America, a country that values diversity and its immigrants. A country that was always described as a melting pot of cultures – something I learned in my middle school years highly influenced by schoolhouse rock.

HIGH SCHOOL.

Fast forward to early high school, I was in 10th grade. I was taking French as my language and there was a trip to Europe in the summer and I badly wanted to go. But unfortunately, despite having a work permit, my parents didn’t deem it safe enough to leave the country for the fear that something could happen and I wouldn’t be able to return. That was when I first remember feeling really frustrated about my legal situation. I asked my parents if there was any way to speed up the process and they said “No. This is the way it works in America.” I remember being confused because we lived here for so long and we still weren’t citizens yet we were paying U.S. taxes and I was getting an American education. Didn’t that make me American?

Fast forward to late high school, my senior year, we received our green card. Finally, progress. The first thing we did was book a long trip to India, our original country of citizenship and we had all of our documents and passports ready. Leaving the country was fine but coming back caused a lot of anxiety and stress for all of us DESPITE being 100% legal. The “what if” questions started swirling through our heads.

WHAT IF they don’t let us back in? Will they deport us?
WHAT IF they detain us? Will they reject our green card?

Luckily, everything went fine and we were able to return home yet I’m sure as all immigrants can attest to, that urge to prove you belong in this country will never leave you.

COLLEGE.

Fast forward to college. The 2016 election. The urge to participate in the American democracy was never as great as it was that year. Sadly, I still could not vote. I remember watching the election, discussing the candidates with my friends and family, convincing anyone and everyone around me to register to vote. I just couldn’t understand how some people I spoke to did not want to vote or were “too lazy” to register especially when I COULD NOT vote and wanted to more than anything. While watching the election, I was glued to my chair, I was calling my dad between every commercial break and talking about how Hillary could still win and what states she would need to win.

I remember going to sleep that night hoping for a miracle and waking up to what was the complete opposite of that.

That day, I lost faith in America. I felt terrified of being in this country because of what could happen with the President that was elected. Clearly, I was not wrong. Early on into Trump’s term, he enforced the Muslim ban. My hopes for study abroad went straight down the drain. My dad was worried that if I left the US for a whole semester to study abroad in Europe on a green card, I would not be able to come back. What if Trump enacted another executive order? Despite having a green card and living in this country for 15 years at that point, I felt like I wasn’t welcome and could be thrown out at any point or not let back in if I went on vacation.

TODAY.

Fast forward to today, our oath ceremony which was also a journey to get to. Our interview was in March and I flew to TX for 24 hours and my parents and I all passed. We were told we would receive our oath ceremony date as soon as possible. COVID happened and the idea of even voting in this election was farther away than ever. It was like getting to the finish line, touching it, but not being able to cross it. We lost hope with every article we read about USCIS being closed, getting defunded, furloughing its employees, and Trump deciding to suspend green cards and H1-B visas. How long until he decided to stop naturalization ceremonies?

Miraculously, we made the cut. We were able to attend our oath ceremony on August 18th, 2020. We were sworn in as US citizens on the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote. To be honest, it was an anti-climatic end to an otherwise intense and dramatic process. Did we feel any different? No. In my mom’s word, “I still feel like an Indian citizen in my heart.”

IT’S OFFICIAL.

We are truly grateful and overjoyed to be able to OFFICIALLY call ourselves citizens of this country but by living in this country for over 19 years and paying its insane taxes, attending school here, and working here, we are already unofficially Americans. The certificate is just a formality but it’s a formality that will allow us to vote, something we have been desperately wanting to do and already registered to do so.

The immigration process in this country is not easy. There is no easy roadmap. There is no estimated time. It’s a difficult and complicated process and unique to each person. Everyone has their own battle and the one my family and I went through is certainly not one of the most difficult compared to others. Sometimes people will need to pay thousands of dollars to hire a lawyer just to shed light on the process. Even then, citizenship is not guaranteed.

Someone in my family once told me in a condescending way that “All Indians vote Democratic regardless of the candidate because of the immigration policies.” What’s so wrong about that? We need immigration reform. Simply put, the Democratic party is able to actually make that happen. Especially, compared to the current leadership who is hell bent on raising the already high prices for citizenship, defunding USCIS, and creating more obstacles making it harder to be a citizen of this country.

VOTE.

Living in this country is a privilege and getting to THIS STAGE is not easy. Anyone going through the immigration process can testify to that. This election is probably one of the most important elections America is facing. It’s a fight for the preservation of the American democracy. Regardless of your party preference, I hope you’re registered to vote. As someone who could not do so for the last election, I can say that having a vote is nothing short of a blessing. I have a voice and so do you and I hope you plan to use it. Use it for all those who cannot vote. This is a fight for America’s soul and we need all hands on deck. See you at the polls.