Telling the stories of the ethnic elderly: becoming a citizen
What are the stories we need to tell?
One of them is about becoming a citizen despite their age and despite the challenges they face.
Here is a story from a Seattle newspaper, carried by New America Media that tells this story. If there are any stories you have done like this, I would gladly add them here.
saludos,
Steve
Stories of Hard-Won Citizenship
IExaminer, News report, Vivian Luu, Posted: Feb 07, 2010 
Tran Tran is 75 years-old. He lives in Renton and enjoys shopping and visiting with friends in the Phuc Loc Tho mini-mall in Seattle.
Tran emigrated from Vietnam in 2002 after his son sponsored him, but didn’t become a U.S. citizen until Jan. 5. Tran had been trying to become an American for three years.
“I feel liberated, free,” Tran said. He was a telegraph operator for the U.S. military, but speaks very little English. We conversed in Vietnamese.
This is a feeling shared by many other Asian immigrants who come from hardship and, like Tran, seek solace in the United States. Obtaining citizenship means freedom from oppressive governments and a chance to start over.
More people are seeking U.S. citizenship than ever. More than 744,000 people were naturalized last year while just over a century ago, fewer than 8,000 people had that privilege, according to the US federal Web site.
Tran tried fleeing to the United States with his son in the early 90s. As father and son ran toward a small boat that would take them away, his son, Quoc, made it onto the boat. Tran was caught and imprisoned for two months.
“Quoc was young,” Tran said. “He was faster. He got away.”
It is no surprise, then, why he was determined to become an American. He took the naturalization exam in 2007 and failed. His application was rejected when he tried again because of speculation his roommate was a family member.
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=bc024f9390fae1ddb470145d48f2323c
