Citizenship Day

I want to write something down before I completely forget about this whole experience. I just spent the last 8 hours in some town, Ct on the edge of the Connecticut/New York border. The city has many small-town charms, including a vibrant main street populated by a plethora of Portuguese establishments. As part of our public interest writing course, we were volunteered by our professor to assist in National Citizenship Day - a day committed wholly to helping legal permanent residents obtain their US citizenship, for better or for worst. Even though we were all law students, none of us truly had any idea what to expect from this whole experience. For the most part, our training was inadequate. It consisted of a 2 hour training session run by two experienced immigration attorneys who led us through the entire process in an expedited manner. Furthermore, these attorneys constantly emphasized the importance of not making any mistakes on these applications, given the heightened scrutiny legal residents face when applying for citizenship. As such, I came away from the training feeling wholly inadequate; how could someone such as myself, with such limited experience, be able to contribute to such an important decision in someone's life?

When we arrived at the scene, we received very little instruction yet again. After about a ten minute meeting, whereby we met most of the attorneys who were volunteering for the event, we were immediately whisked off to our various positions around the Danbury library. To our surprise, people of all ages lined the hallways awaiting the free help provided by these attorneys. Our volunteer positions were chosen arbitrarily, as we were sent away in groups to assist in client intake, as well as other positions. Since I was among the group of five students closes to the door, the attorneys assigned me to the role of as in client intake. With the commotion surrounding the event, I could not pay attention to the questions that I was supposed to ask these people. We were supposed to make sure that the people standing in line were eligible to apply for citizenship, asking them questions such as "Do you have a green card?" and "What is your age?" Essentially, during the client in takes, we were also supposed to gauge their level of English fluency. Without a basic command of the English language, it would be impractical for them to submit the hefty sum of $675 to apply for citizenship, only to be rejected at the oral interview.

The intake portion of the day was relatively tranquil because I only spoke to about three people. That portion of the day lasted a very short period of time, as I quickly transitioned to client interviewing. Given the sensitive nature of the material, as volunteers, we had to first record information regarding the client's addresses, and employment history for the past five years. Furthermore, we had to record information about their children, as well as their travel history since the inception of their permanent residency. All of this information was recorded on a pre-form, after which we were to transcribe the information onto the actual N-400 form. After this meticulous step, we culminated the process by having one of the volunteer attorneys review the entire process to ensure the form has been completely correctly, and that the clients did in fact, have an opportunity to apply for citizenship.

In total, I assisted in four applications, which I will discuss in length below:

Client 1:
Client 1 was likely one of the most difficult experiences I have encountered. He has been a permanent resident for close to twenty years, and yet, has failed to command some of the very basics of the English language. Even though he understood the majority of what I said, he had extreme difficulty responding to some of the questions on the form. Client 1 is a citizen of Brazil. In the United States, he resides in CT, and from what I could ascertain, he has consistently held a series of seasonal jobs performing mostly landscaping and construction work. In fact, he resides at many of these companies that employ him.

Since his permanent residence in the United States, he has made a consistent effort to return to Brazil at least once per year to visit his family, and in particular, his ailing father. These trips generally last anywhere between three and five months - most often in the off-season when he is not working. His lengthy travel experience surprised me: this man did not strike me as having extra discretionary income. I noticed that he wasn't wearing socks, and yet, wore sneakers that he made into almost slippers. As such, I couldn't help but notice the faint smell of body odor radiating from him. Nevertheless, he has been able to make annual travels to Brazil - a seeming luxury that is generally reserved for more well-to-do individuals. I couldn't help but wonder about the type of income that he generates from his seasonal employment.

What made this experience the most difficult was the fact that he had a weak command of the English language. I could barely understand what he was saying in his low, almost whisper of a voice. I found the ordeal extremely frustrating, as I tried to grasp his story. What frustrated me the most was the helplessness that I felt. Since everyone was so busy, it was difficult to find someone who could translate everything that I was saying. The attorney on staff was talented enough to know and understand Portuguese. However, he was very busy helping others. As such, I was only able to get his attention every so often to help with a particular issue.

I hated that feeling of helplessness. On the one hand, I wished he could have learned English throughout all the years that he has been in the United States. If that were the case, I wouldn't have had to struggle with his intake so much. On the other hand, I understand first hand how difficult it is to get a grasp of the English language. My mother -- who has been in this country for close to thirty years -- also has a very limited grasp of English. The reason for this is partly attributed to her strong ties to her native culture, and partly because of her daily work. As the mother of three, she had to work on a daily basis in order to support her family. As a result, there just wasn't a lot of time for her to devote to English lessons. Thus, even though I wished Client 1 could have taken the time to learn English, I understand much of the difficulty blocking him from achieving the required proficiency.

Client 1 did express to me that he needed an English tutor in order to pass the oral interview portion of the citizenship process. However, I seriously doubt his conviction. He has been in the country for almost twenty years and has yet to learn the required language proficiency. Much like my mother, I doubt he has the energy to work and engage in English classes. As a result, I fear for his ability to gain citizenship based on the interview portion alone. There were other issues involving tax returns, but I won't get into the specifics of that.

Client 2:

Client 2 was relatively easy compared to my first client. Much of the burden was lifted off my shoulders because her husband is a naturalized US citizen fluent in English. He aided me with much of her questions, and for the most part, the question and answer portion went very smoothly. What struck me as particularly difficult in this situation was the question about prostitution. It was an awkward situation because I was uncomfortable having to ask a woman about the topic, not to mention her husband sat there and answered the question for her. I can't imagine what would have happened if she said yes, and her husband didn't know about it.

Because her husband spoke as her interpreter, I felt much more at ease. I was able to be myself with the couple, and even joked about some of the answers that she gave. For example, while we were filling out the section of the N-400 about the spouse's information, we brushed upon the topic of separate addresses. The husband joked about wishing they were living separately, to which I replied, "Fat chance! The best you can hope for is a couple of trips to the couch!" This exchange characterized my overall sentiments with this couple because my personality was able to shine through, which put me much more at ease with the clients.

I rather appreciated my ability to communicate with client 2 and her husband. At the same time, I became much more aware of the importance of being able to communicate in numerous languages. I was very impressed with the attorneys in the clinic because each of them spoke at least three languages. Even though I speak three languages myself, my languages were not generally applicable in this particular setting. As such, this experience may have motivated me to re-learn Spanish - a language that I devoted seven years of my life to learning, but ultimately gave up on.

Client 3:

The final clients I had for today presented by far the most complicated situation that I have had to face. I was presented with a couple who were living together. The two of them have been legal residents for close to twenty years, and both came from Brazil. The woman spoke near perfect English, while the man spoke very little. However, things appeared on the surface to be very straight forward. They have been living together for close to twenty years, and even have to young children together. Both were present at the clinic, and both were incredibly adorable. The man and the woman were not married, which wasn't a significant problem so long as they filed for citizenship separately.

However, upon more consistent questioning, they brought to my attention that they have been filing taxes together for as long as they have been living together. The taxes immediately raised a red flag, and I was confronted with the first of a few major problems. I inquired about this situation with the attorney present, and he simply told me to continue with the questioning. As we progressed through the questions stipulated on the N-400, I soon discovered that the man is actually still married to someone in Brazil. Not only is he not divorced, he has three additional children with that woman!

Immediately, I realized that this case was beyond my limited expertise, and therefore, had to refer them to the present attorney. Out of all my clients, I felt the most sympathy for this couple and their family. First of all, I had a difficult time speaking to the father about his other family because I was unsure whether or not his daughters were aware of his other family. I had no idea whether this was supposed to be a secret. In addition, I wasn't particularly sure if I was hitting a sore patch in their relationship. The intimacy of the questioning certainly made me feel very uncomfortable as a volunteer. I can't imagine how it made the couple feel. Also, they filed taxes jointly not because they were trying to defraud the government. Rather, they held an honest belief that the joint tax return was something they were supposed to do. I would hate to see the US government deny them citizenship based on an honestly-held belief to file joint tax returns. Unfortunately, the attending attorney informed me at the end of the ordeal that complications occurred during their acquisition of their legal residency which virtually makes it impossible for them to obtain citizenship.

At that moment, I felt completely useless. I had just spent close to 45 minutes handling their situation, and in the end, the effort proved futile. I had learned some of the most intimate details about this couple's life - some things that most people would likely not know about. They were willing to share their story because they were confident that their efforts would be rewarded in the end by citizenship, and all the benefits that come along with it. Yet, they were still forced to go home empty handed, and will likely never be able to achieve citizenship. I would hate to be in their situation, after expending so much time and energy into gaining citizenship, only to be turned away in the end.

In conclusion, there are a number of things that I took away from today. First of all, I was impressed with the amount of enthusiasm surrounding the concept of citizenship in this town. Even before the library doors opened, people lined up outside. The amount of people heightened the initial anxiety that I had because I was still unsure about my role in this entire day.

Second, I am truly motivated to gain a better proficiency in English. Even though I speak Chinese, I feel that Spanish would be much more practical, especially if I am going to be in Hartford for the next two years. If I were to gain a far better understanding of the language, I think I would be much better situated to help in future pro bono activities.

Growing up

I was recently compelled to think about the notion of growing up, and how my decisions these days have a greater impact on the rest of my life than in recent years. Although I disagree with this notion, I cannot help but think about how certain decisions will impact my life.

For example, I plan to move in with my law school girlfriend next year in order to save a substantial amount of money. Given our situation, it made more financial sense to split a one bedroom, as opposed to having separate apartments. We didn't exactly arrive at this decision in a cavalier manner; rather, I had given careful consideration to our general personalities, and whether or not we could coincide in peaceful co-existence for an entire year, along with the pressures and workload that come with the second year of law school. On the one hand, we stand to save approximately $3,000/year each, which could turn out to be substantial, especially if next summer doesn't turn out the way I have envisioned. Having that extra cash lying around would serve as a fantastic buffer.

On the other hand, there is always this risk that things 'may not work out'. Surprisingly, this aspect doesn't concern me as much - her and I have this strange understanding, and quite frankly, we have a very laisse faire approach to relationships, which I value completely. It's extremely important to have a similar goal in mind, as well as a similar lifestyle, in order to make any relationship work. More than that, I don't think we necessarily place much emphasis on 'the future', which encompasses life beyond law school. This void allows us to live in the moment, and enjoy each other's company, without the added pressure of 'growing up'.

However, therein lies the problem. I'm sitting here, writing, and it's entirely possible that despite my cavalier approach to life, she may harbor different future goals. After all, I'll be 27 when this whole law school ordeal is said and done, and quite frankly, people start making important decisions with their lives at that age. Heck, people start making important decisions at my age! But if this was an issue, I would ultimately be buying into the societally - imposed values that may not resonate with everyone. Long ago, I figured out that there was no one master key to life. Everyone approaches their set of life circumstances differently, and no two lives are alike. After all, what would be the fun if I were to plan my life exactly.

I never thought I would end up in Connecticut, and chances are, I'm going to be where I want to be after I graduate two years from now. The best that I can do is to make the most out of my particular set of circumstances, rather than force them to fit into someone else's conception of life. Don't get me wrong - I do support having a goal at the end of the tunnel. However, it doesn't matter how I get there, just that I get there in the end.

So to make a long story short, growing up doesn't necessarily require that I have to jeopardize my approach to life to fit someone else's conception of what my life should be. In fact, I don't want to be confined by a set of pressures that don't apply to me. Rather, I guess I'll just have to see what feels right. Moving in with my gf is not the first big step that will lead to even greater life stepping stones. If it happens, so be it - but I'm not holding my breath. I prefer it that way.