Citizenship main topic at first immigration hearing

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WASHINGTON – A pathway to citizenship was the main topic of discussion Tuesday at a House hearing, the first to take place since proposals for immigration reform were introduced in the new Congress. San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro pushed for citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in the United States. “I believe that is the best way and it is in our nation’s best interest,” Castro said. “We’re a nation of immigrants. We’ve progressed because we are pragmatic.

(©iStockphoto/Milous)

Lourdes Cardenas: Journey across country has led to US citizenship

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By the time most of you read this, I will be a U.S. citizen as I am taking the citizenship oath this morning. Instead of covering the story as a reporter, I will be an active participant in today’s naturalization ceremony at the El Paso convention center. It has been a long, and sometimes harsh, road. The journey for me officially started eight years ago, when I came to the U.S. with an H1B visa to work as an editor for Al Día, a Spanish publication of The Dallas Morning News, which was launched in 2003 with the purpose of serving the growing Hispanic community in the city. Luckily, the company decided to sponsor me for permanent resident status, which allowed me to apply for U.S. citizenship after holding a green card for five years.

Military provides path to citizenship

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Pvt. Juan Benjamin Alcantar and his wife were living in Chicago when he decided to join the U.S. military. At the time, he was going to college and working in a warehouse. “It was hard to keep up on school and my duty as a husband,” said Alcantar, 25. “To me it [joining the military] is something that’s a great idea to do.”

It also helped him become a citizen.

Joselyn after obtaining her master's in mass communications from CSUN. (Photo courtesy of Joselyn Arroyo)

The road toward citizenship: The plight of the undocumented

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College graduate recalls the hardships she endured while obtaining a bachelor’s and a master’s degree as an AB 540 student

She has vague memories of the day her parents packed up and brought her and her sister to the U.S. One of them is her arriving at an “airport” though in reality she’d arrived to Sun Valley after crossing the border illegally at the age of three. Growing up, Joselyn Arroyo, 29, would accompany her mother, a janitor at the time, to the KNBC studios in Burbank. She remembers watching the broadcasters and deciding then that it was what she wanted to do when she grew up, oblivious to the hardships she’d face living in the U.S as an undocumented resident. Born Joselyn Ontiveros in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on April 26, 1982, she stands at about 5 feet 5 inches with medium length black hair, tan skin and an athletic build and has always considered herself a citizen of the U.S. despite her illegal status. “I knew I was from Mexico but I didn’t know the logistics of not being and being a citizen,” says Joselyn.

En la boca del lobo

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Inmigrante indocumentada recibe residencia gracias a una ley para personas abusadas

CHICAGO, Illinois —María García* de 26 años, nunca pensó que al venir al país de sus sueños se encontraría con su peor pesadilla. En 2002 García, originaria de Morelia, Michoacán, cruzó ilegalmente la frontera por el desierto de Arizona. Casi le cuesta la vida atravesar la frontera sin poder tomar agua y sin comer. El coyote que los traía le dijo que sólo caminarían por dos horas, y esas dos horas se convirtieron en tres días. Ella tuvo que esperar tres días más en una casa desconocida en compañía de gente de muchas nacionalidades; cuando arribaron a esa casa los que estaban en su grupo llegaron tomando agua del contenedor de donde las vacas también tomaban.