What it means to be an American: An Immigration Experience
By Isabella Quintero
My grandma and I in Chile before immigrating to the United States.
Being an American means being free. Being American is essentially the dream that millions around the world yearn for. Being in America is liberating—it's the goal. At least that’s what we’re taught, but what is being American really?
There's a clear distinction between natural-born American citizens and immigrants who became citizens through the naturalization process. The way they’re brought up, the way they live, the way they think can be is significantly different.
If you ask most Americans what being American means, they’d likely say something along the lines of freedom, liberty, or maybe just something patriotic. If you ask an immigrant what being an American means they would likely say it's a journey—a journey of hope and courage. They would say it’s difficult, and scary, but ultimately liberating. That's what I would say at least.
As an immigrant who grew up in the United States learning English as a second language, I’ve had a unique experience in the acceptance of being “American” while not actually being an American.
Both of my parents were born in Venezuela, as were my older sister and nearly every other family member of mine; my brother was born in the United States, and I was born in Chile. Having different nationalities and stories from living in different places became confusing when thinking about where I was really from.
Growing up, I spoke only Spanish at home, but all my friends only spoke English. Over the years, I adapted more to the English language and American culture, making me feel like a true American among my American friends.
I quickly recognized the ways that my American friends were so different from the family I grew up with, their customs were different, their way of speaking was different, even their clothes were different. Being so young and so new to this environment, I wanted to be exactly like each and every single one of them.
There comes a time after so long pretending you’re one thing that you really start to believe it. So much so that I would look back at my own culture, my blood, and not really resonate with it. Despite being Venezuelan I didn’t act like it, I wasn’t American but I acted like I was, and I definitely wasn’t Chilean, despite my passport saying I was.
My parents first came to the US on a J-1 visa when my dad was a student. After two years, they moved to Chile, spent seven years there, and then we moved back to the US on an H-1B visa sponsored by my dad’s job. Because of that we were then able to file for greencards, and then eventually citizenship.
It wasn’t until my parents finally became US citizens after about 14 years of immigrating from Venezuela, that I felt like I was allowed to say I was American—despite having lived here for most of my life. Long car rides of listening to the citizenship CD, which I still think about in my sleep, quizzing my parents on the 100 questions that are on the citizenship test (a test I didn’t even need to take due to being a minor), quite literally burned those questions into my mind.
As annoying as it was that we had to listen to that in the car instead of Taylor Swift or Katy Perry, it did prepare me to take my own citizenship test along with all of my classmates in the 8th grade when it became a requirement for graduation. Unsurprisingly, I scored a 100 percent on that test, while many of my fellow American-born classmates, well, didn’t.
I found that very irritating at the time, and often still do, that while immigrants are required to know just about every fact about the history of the United States in order to acquire citizenship, it's actually quite rare to find many born Americans that know these facts about their own country. Many Americans also have a very basic understanding of immigration and of other cultures, unless they have first-hand experience or truly go out of their way and make an effort to learn.
This lack of understanding can make the transition to a new culture especially challenging for immigrants, as they often encounter unfamiliar norms, values, and even assumptions about who they are.
However, the experience is not always the same for everyone. For some, the process is eased by supportive communities. Looking for people who understand the journey and are willing to offer guidance and a sense of belonging can make the process much easier.
As an immigrant, it's difficult to make that transition unless you are being greeted by a community ready to do so. My family was lucky, in that community is everywhere, especially for Venezuelans. The diaspora has spread us so far and wide, and those who have gone through the process are often ready to extend a helping hand.
In this community you see so many different experiences and situations, as well as looking into different communities that have formed here over the years. Immigrants tend to migrate towards what they know and who they know, especially when they’re settling in cities that they don’t know and that don’t know them.
Unlike me, my older sister, Arianna Quintero, had to take the citizenship test for her own naturalization since she had just turned 18. Along with her own studies during her senior year of high school, she studied for this test that would decide her future as an immigrant in the United States.
This experience, I believe, is what pushed her in the direction she’s going in now, attending law school in hopes of becoming an immigration lawyer to continue to help those who maybe weren’t as lucky as us in our transition.
“Americans are all those who persevered, and continued to work for and in this country, despite their lack of respect, their lack of justice, their lack of liberty,” said Quintero. “I am proud to continue that legacy, because someone pushed and pushed for change, and for me, a Hispanic woman, to become a member of this country.”
Seeing my parents and my sister now, after around 7 years of being American citizens, I find so many reasons to be grateful for the life that they pushed for us to have as a family. After leaving their home and settling in a new, foreign place, adapting to an entirely new culture, with new friends, and a new language, all for us to know we’re free, and not have to question our safety.
Citizenship, and immigration itself is an act of labor. Someone has made arrangements to leave their home, which, although it may no longer be welcoming, is often full of the feeling of home and familiarity. Citizenship is a financial endeavor, not only from the burden of moving countries, but also in the process itself. You pay fees to the USCIS, you pay a lawyer, if you can, you pay to travel for all the forms. Citizenship is an act of adaptation. You enter a new country, often unfamiliar, hopefully with a support system, and adjust to a new community, language, and customs.
Setayesh Mirtarazjani, a junior at Jenks high school, immigrated to the United States with her mom and older sister from Iran when she was 3 years old. After her aunt was lucky enough to get them all a green card lottery, they were able to come to the US, and eventually file for citizenship.
Coming to a new country, even being as young as she was, is still confusing, alarming, and at times scary. Luckily, she and her older sister were able to learn English at school. With that being said, being the only kid in the class that spoke Farsi, the only kid that looked different, it was difficult.
“Growing up, people were just so mean because I was brown,” said Mirtarazjani.
Despite people treating her differently, she quickly adapted to the English language and American culture, having to let go of a big part of her own culture. Her sister, having been older than her when they moved, shared a lot more of that culture with their mom and the rest of their family leaving her as a bit of an outsider, not knowing where to stand.
Going to Jenks she learned everything in English, which meant she was letting go of a lot of the Farsi she was being raised on, not being able to speak it as well as the rest of her family.
“It's just annoying because my whole family speaks it and I can only understand it now so I just feel like an outsider,” said Mirtarazjani.
While she had become an English speaker at such a young age to adapt to her school and friends, she felt detached from her own background.
“I felt white washed but it's like, if you’re not white washed, then you’re just weird,” said Mirtarazjani, about the way that she was viewed by her American classmates.
Despite the longing for that part of her culture she doesn’t share, Mirtarazjani is forever grateful for the sacrifices that went into her and her family being able to immigrate, settle in an area with resources and community, and be able to grow up feeling safe and loved.
Growing up, I was really ignorant to just how much sacrifice goes into immigrating, how much people lose in moving to a new country. Over the years I've witnessed more and more immigration stories, mostly from family members coming to the US, but also of those around me in my classes at Jenks and in the Tulsa community. The little bubble I had grown up in burst, letting me appreciate the life that my parents made for me, and really acknowledge the fact that I am so lucky to have immigrated into this life in which so many are not as lucky.
Immigration is not a simple or easy process, and unfortunately it continues to get more complicated and terrifying in the United States. People seeking refuge from their homes that have become unsafe for them are often not let into this country, and others who enter out of desperation for their families despite not having legal documents allowing them, are sent back to where they were escaping from, or kept in detention centers until they can be sent back.
However, with the right help and support, so many people have been lucky to have immigrated and started a new life in the United States, and so many immigrants have been able to stay and get American citizenship.
The true test, I think, happens in the years before. Can you overcome the difficulties of immigrating? Can you overcome the obstacles of the application? Do you have the time, the money, the support to tackle the process? I was lucky. My family was lucky.
Many people wait over 20 years in order to get to that point of becoming an American. While our process wasn’t exactly quick and easy, it was worth it because here I am, at a safe and diversely involved school, with resources everywhere that can help me succeed in my future. That future which I have in front of me due to the sacrifices that were made by my parents to make me an American citizen, living an American life.
