The Necessity of Reforming the Citizenship Process Essay examples -- C

During my early teenage years, every day after school, I would check the mail and become disappointed when there was no letter from the â€Å"Department of Homeland Security.† I came to America with my family at the age of eight, and it took our family almost eight years to become naturalized as U.S. citizens. These years were the most stressful times of my life. Day and night, my thoughts were consumed with uncertainty and fear that our family was not going to survive the path of obtaining citizenship. With my dad having no job, and my mom suffering from a uterine disease, the path to obtaining our citizenship was a â€Å"nightmare.† I remember my parents filing out numerous applications, such as â€Å"I-485† or â€Å"N-400,† writing checks that amounted to almost ten thousand dollars, paying expensive fees, and trying to remember countless facts about the U.S. government for the citizenship test. Indeed, the citizenship process is costly, utterly stressf ul, unfair, and because it encourages illegal immigrants to maintain their illegal status, America should reform the citizenship process to make legalization more attainable. United States has one of the highest percentages of immigration. The majority of the immigrants that settle in America come from third world countries, which are characterized by â€Å"deep, absolute poverty and instances of great wealth in their populations, but their overall economies fall below even that of a middle-income country such as Russia† (Alters 1). Due to the poor conditions in developing countries, many immigrants decide to come to America for job opportunities that are not present in their country of origin. When applicants apply for citizenship, the application fee for citizenship acts as a barrier for their path t... ...mmigrants." The Daily Aztec. The Daily Aztec, 26 Apr. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2011. Foley, Elise. "How Much Does It Cost to Become an American?† The Washington Independent National News in Context. Washington Independent, 09 Sept. 2010. Web. 13 Nov. 2011 Jensen, Molly Thomas. â€Å"The high cost of Citizenship.† Harvard Law Record. Harvard Law Record, 1 March.2011. Web. 1 Nov.2011. Miller, John J. â€Å"What Should an American Know?: The new naturalization: dumbed down and deleterious.†National Review, 22 Apr.2002. Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. Nazir, Faisal. Personal Interview. 11 November. 2011. Orgad, Liav. â€Å"Creating new Americans: The essence of Americanism under the Citizenship Test.† Houston Law Review. Article, Mar 2011. Web. 4 Nov.2011. Romano, Andrew. "How Dumb Are We?" The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast, 20 Mar. 2011 Web. 1 Nov. 2011.