CENTRAL FALLS — For Jorge Saldarriaga, the process of applying for citizenship has been a long time coming. He arrived in the U.S. from Colombia in 1986 in search of a better life for himself and his family. He has been a legal permanent resident since then, working in Rhode Island, paying taxes, sending his children to school and trying to get ahead. He waited to apply for citizenship, he says, because he doesn’t speak English well.
Learning English is a huge challenge for Saldarriaga, as it is for many of the people applying for citizenship. His wife and children are all citizens and speak both English and Spanish, and he knows that the language is barring him from obtaining better employment. But, he says, learning a second language as an adult is more difficult than many people realize. “People don’t understand that I just don’t have a mind for learning English,“ he said, asserting once again that he wants to very badly.
Now that he has begun the process of applying for citizenship, he hopes that it will be the impetus he needs to finally learn the language. “My wife pushes me a lot too,” he adds.
Saldarriaga is like many applicants; he knows that once he has obtained citizenship life will be more secure for him in this country, and he anticipates the day when he will finally have the full rights and responsibilities of an American citizen.
“My family is here, my home, my children, and I don’t want to be separated from them,” he said.
Last Saturday Saldarriaga and many other legal immigrant residents received some much-needed assistance to put them on the path toward full citizenship at a registration day held at four locations throughout the state. Fifty applications for citizenship were processed by volunteers and employees of the Diocese of Providence at two locations, one in Providence and one in Central Falls. The citizenship registration day was sponsored by several organizations, including the International Institute of Rhode Island, Progreso Latino, and SEIU, and was part of a year-long, nationwide initiative.
Legal permanent residents are people who live and work in the U.S. and have what is commonly known as a green card. Green card-carrying residents are eligible to apply for citizenship if they have lived in the U.S. for at least five years, or if they are married to a citizen and have lived here for at least three years.
The process for obtaining citizenship begins with a daunting amount of paperwork. Applicants must answer questions that detail their work, personal and family histories. Application questions range from the basics, like date of birth and marital status, to political ideologies and moral character, for example: Are you or have you ever been a member of the communist or Nazi parties? Are you a terrorist? Have you ever committed a crime and not been caught? Once this paperwork has been approved, applicants are fingerprinted and then must interview with the Department of Immigration, and pass a test of literacy and U.S. history.
The literacy test demands that applicants write a few short sentences in English and the history test asks questions about the country’s formation and politics. For example, applicants must be able to respond to questions like, “What are some of the basic beliefs of the Declaration of Independence?” and “How many changes, or amendments, are there to the Constitution?”
The citizenship registration day last weekend was held with the goal of assisting as many eligible people as possible to fill out the necessary paperwork and begin the process. The paperwork is very specific and complicated and can be discouraging to potential applicants, according to volunteers. Volunteers from AmeriCorps and Brown University were among those who helped people to fill out the lengthy applications. They sat with applicants for up to an hour and struggled through the confusing government forms and occasional language barriers while preparing the applications for citizenship.
After the forms were filled out, the applicants’ photographs were taken and the fees were paid, they then had the option of whether or not to be represented, at a cost of about $100, by the Diocese throughout the rest of the citizenship process. This means the Diocese would act as a liaison between the government agency and the applicant, coach the applicant on the rest of the process and accompany them to their final interview. Most of the applicants who came through the Diocesan immigration office and Project Hope opted to be represented.
Beginning in August, the fees for processing citizenship paperwork will be raised considerably, some to nearly double the current rate. Legal residents will have to pay hundreds of dollars to begin the process toward citizenship. That’s why organizers of Saturday’s drive want as many eligible people to apply now as possible.
Saldarriaga, for one, is eagerly anticipating the chance to cast a ballot in the 2008 election. The opportunity to potentially vote in the next president election is just one of the benefits he cited as he began the process. He also anticipates the opportunity to get a better job – he’d like to be an electrician – and to feel more secure in the country he and his family call home.
Saldarriaga wants to encourage others in his position to begin the road to citizenship. “Try, try like I am to have all the rights of the country,” he said.
