The Wait to be Great Again
In Trumps America many immigrants in the United States are living in constant fear of being deported or worse. Being forced to return to a homeland that now seems more like a foreign land to an uncertain future is a reality far displaced from the dream that brought them here in the first place. In 2016 Donald Trump came into power campaigning on border walls and immigration crackdowns; during his election campaign Trump promised “to deport the 11.1 million immigrants living in the country.” (Chardy, 2017)[1] His ultimate triumph was followed by “2016 [becoming] the busiest year in a decade for naturalization applications. But this year [2017], the number of applications is on track to surpass last years while a perennial backlog continues to pile up. It is the first time in 20 years that applications have not slipped after a presidential election [and there] is no sign of this trend abating.” (Jordan, 2017)[2]
At present United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is experiencing an influx on applications that is causing a significant delay in their processing abilities. One “[report] notes that the backlog of naturalization applications has increased by more than 35% [&] the average processing time …has almost doubled from …5 months in 2016 to an average of almost 9 months today.” (Yam, 2017)[3] These longer wait times can “undermine peoples access to civil rights.” (Yam, 2017)[4] – according to John C. Yang the executive director of the nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice. The holdup in processing times can represent delays in the ability to vote in elections; in some extreme cases it can mean an inability to pass on social security benefit to love ones in the event of death. To those worried about their safety, these delays provide longer waits to feelings of safety.
For many immigrants the “decision to naturalize is a deeply personal one and ultimately an individual choice. In one naturalization ceremony that took place in Miami this year … [the chief reason for naturalization cited was that those participating had] built their lives in the United States and want to stay here.” (Chardy, 2017) “For many of those now coming forward, the big change came when Trump issued a travel ban against citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries. Even immigrants not affected by the ban — which has since been both blocked and most recently upheld by the courts — were jolted, advocates said, especially when green card holders were initially held for questioning at U.S. airports along with visitors.” (Taxin, 2017)[5]
The two most important emotions in the history of humanity are love and fear. While the love for this country may beat within their hearts, immigrants like many of us, are often pushed into action in response to fear. Longer wait times means a longer road to arriving at the fruition of dreams many years in the making. On the one hand, the fear of deportation is driving immigrants to finally take the leap towards filing for their citizenship. The positive flip side of these fears is seeing a great deal of eligible immigrants finally taking the leap to joining the great experiment called America.
[1] Chardy, Alfonso (May 28th, 2017) Citizenship Applications on the Rise Since Trump’s Election http://hrld.us/2A8LFIo
[2] Jordan, Miriam (October 27th, 2017) Citizenship Applications in the U.S. Surge as Immigration Talk Toughens http://nyti.ms/2hdWpOs
[3] Yam, Kimberly (November 17th, 2017) Immigrants Anxiously Await Citizenship As Processing Times Nearly Double http://bit.ly/2zLwx6P
[4] Yam, Kimberly (November 17th, 2017) Immigrants Anxiously Await Citizenship As Processing Times Nearly Double http://bit.ly/2zLwx6P
[5] Taxin, Amy (February 21st, 2017) Immigrants are Rushing to Apply for Citizenship Amid Trump’s Immigration Moves http://read.bi/2AIRqOe
