Meet a new American
If you want to feel a sense of appreciation for being an American on this Independence Day, talk to a new one.
This will be Alejandra Gomez’s first Fourth of July as a U. S. citizen. She’s a native Colombian, lived for 20 years in Venezuela, came to the United States six years ago and was sworn in at a ceremony in Hartford in March.
I reached out to Building One Community/ The Center for Immigrant Opportunity ( known as B1C) in Stamford in search of a holiday story about a newly minted American. They pointed me to one in their own ranks.
Every immigrant’s story is different, despite a too- common impulse to fill in the blanks with cliches. But this is Gomez’s story to tell. She shares it graciously, providing welcome details, such as how her dad was born on the Fourth of July, her teenage daughter was absolutely no help in preparing for the citizenship test, and how the computer system went down in Hartford on her big day.
Other details of her journey to citizenship sound like echoes of generations of immigrants arriving in the Land of Opportunity.
“I am an immigrant. I’m a mom. I had to navigate the school system. I had to find a job. I started from zero,” she says.
There also was the issue of prepping for the exam during a global pandemic.
Gomez, 41, begins retracing her journey with precisely the right words.
“My story started when I was living in Venezuela with my husband and daughter. We were struggling. Venezuela is a country having a difficult situation. I wanted to come to the United States to start a new life with my family. Since my father is an American citizen, he was able to file a petition for me and I came to the U. S. in April 2015.”
Gomez repeatedly summons the phrase “I was lucky” throughout her narrative. Her father, Jose, arranged for her to live temporarily with his ex- wife in Stamford upon her arrival. She found work at hotel banquet halls and homes.
She spoke English, having studied it in school and in private classes. Her effort to enhance her language skills led her to B1C.
Fast- forward to 2018, when she started working for the agency as an outreach coordinator. By the beginning of 2020 she felt ready to start the naturalization process. She checked off the fingerprinting box in Port Chester, New York, just before the world shut down.
In normal times, the B1C headquarters is a beehive of activities, buzzing with different accents learning and practicing English, and clients getting legal and career guidance.
When COVID- 19 struck, B1C went virtual, leaving Gomez and others to take their citizenship classes via Zoom.
The civics test does not consist of trick questions. As Gomez points out, you can study all 100 of them on YouTube. Still, I know plenty of people who would stumble over “Why does the flag have 13 stripes?” or “What is the name of the National Anthem?” I suspect if I asked random people in Connecticut to name the 13 original states, a few would overlook that we’re in one of them. Then there’s that perilous “name the current president” query.
Come to think of it, maybe there should be pop quizzes for everyone to stay in the county.
Gomez went beyond rote, seeking to contextualize U. S. history. Clearly, she succeeded. As she discusses her process, she pauses to consider how the lessons of history can inform her vote in November.
If only everyone did that on Election Day.
The day of her test finally arrived in February. She chose a special white- and- gray outfit for the occasion “because we Latinas always like to be dressed up for socially important dates.”
But a technical issue at the Hartford office of the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency meant it would have to be rescheduled.
“I want to do it now! I’m ready!” she says, mimicking her reaction that day.
The next time, in March, she booked a room in Hartford. The test requires six of 10 questions to be answered correctly. She nailed the first six, then the interview.
A couple hours later, she shared her once- in- a- lifetime swearing- in ceremony with about 20 strangers in masks. COVID- 19 meant the applicants could not invite friends or family.
Gomez has a lot to celebrate this July 4. Aside from her new status and her dad’s birthday, her daughter, Giselle, recently finished Dolan Middle School and will start Stamford High School in the fall. Gomez jokes that at 14, Giselle was a typically indifferent teenager about Mom’s news. She almost guffaws when I ask if Giselle helped her study.
“She doesn’t show so much expression, but she was happy for me. I explained to her, ‘ Giselle, now you are a citizen too ... Then she was like, ‘ Oh, awesome!’ ” To celebrate, they visited the landmarks in Washington, D. C.
There’s one more thing for the family to celebrate this weekend. Alejandra started a new job Friday as the agency’s marketing outreach coordinator. B1C Communications Director Suzanne Wind assesses Gomez’s work in connecting clients with services by saying “she’s very good at it. She has a whole database. She has a lot of respect out there.”
Who better to help future Americans than a new one? One who sums up her time at Building One by saying, “We become a family.”
“I feel I can identify with them,” she says. “I came here six years ago knowing nothing about the U. S. system and now being able to connect people with resources is an amazing experience.”
She helps others understand the American way. It’s something more of her fellow Americans should do.