“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore; Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” – Portion of poem, “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus, inscribed on a plaque mounted inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
Meet Daniela Gonzalez, sworn in June 19 as one of America’s newest citizens. Standing alongside an estimated 800 others, she took the citizenship oath just in time to celebrate her first Fourth of July as an American citizen. She, along with family, proudly waved American flags while snapping photos and admiring her proclamation of citizenship certificate.
Daniela is one of approximately 680,000 new citizens naturalized annually. This is a nation historically built on immigration; approximately 41.3 million immigrants live in the U.S., representing 13 percent of the population. Seventy-five percent of them reside in 10 states, with California being home to the most. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metropolitan area is the second-largest in the nation, behind New York City-New Jersey.
The 1850 decennial census first reported data on the nativity of the U.S. population. That year, there were 2.2 million immigrants, representing almost 10 percent of the population. Today, the U.S. attracts about 20 percent of the world’s international migrants, even as it represents less than 5 percent of the global population.
While the top countries of origin for naturalization include Mexico, India and China, Daniela hails from Santiago, Chile. She was brought to California by her parents on March 14, 1999, when she was 10. Today, Daniela is earning a master’s in psychology from California State University and is director of parent outreach for the California Center for Parent Empowerment, which I established.
I spoke with Daniela about becoming a citizen: “We came to the United States for a better future. Since I was a child, I remember my grandparents and parents being involved in the community one way or another. My family has always been hardworking, sacrificing to give us a better education. We left our families behind, but not their love and support.
“I became a U.S. citizen because being a [U.S.] resident was not enough. I could not vote and had no voice in the election of our leaders. I wanted to be able to have 100 percent of the rights since this is the country I knew as mine. I also knew that, by becoming a citizen, not only would I be realizing my American Dream, but that of my parents. They chose to live here and this is the land they call home.”
Daniela began interning with then-state Sen. Gil Cedillo, volunteering at countless community events and learning the meaning of public service. She volunteered for candidates advocating comprehensive immigration and education reform policies, providing her the opportunity to witness American democracy firsthand and admiring the power of everyday people to use their voices to strengthen the fabric of democracy for all.
When I first met her, she already understood the capstone legislation I had written as a state senator – the Parent Empowerment Act – and she wanted to write her thesis about what motivates immigrant parents to seek education reforms.
Says Daniela, “I am not ashamed of having been undocumented when my visa expired. America gave me the opportunity to start from the bottom. I faced obstacles that have only made me stronger. My work is not done, and I will continue to contribute to this country in positive ways. I appreciate the struggles and obstacles that this country also faced before becoming this great nation. I am thankful.”
Daniela celebrated this July Fourth, knowing that another dreamer had truly realized her dream.
Staff opinion columnist Gloria Romero is an education reformer and former Democratic state senator from Los Angeles.
Email: itsgjromero@gmail.com
Twitter: @gloriajromero
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