Immigrants Find Angels in America

By Lauren Keating

The New York Public Library, the largest circulating library system in America, is a crown jewel for those on a quest for knowledge. This is especially true for the thousands of immigrants who are naturalized each year.

President and CEO of the library, Dr. Anthony Marx recalled roaming the halls of his home branch of Inwood where teachers were found nose deep into literature, designing lesson plans. Other residents sat at computers, browsing the Web because they didn’t have access at home.

One young man Marx distinctly remembered. When asked what he was doing there, the man, who spoke only Spanish, explained that he had recently emigrated from the Dominican Republic. He was living in a two-room apartment with eight people. There was no place for quiet, and more importantly, there were no books. To this man, the library was home.

He came every day during his lunch hour because he had access to information and librarians to serve him, all for free, no questions asked.

“What is it you come in to read?” Marx asked. The man showed him a large book with prints of Renaissance paintings. “I come in here every day to see pictures of angels,” he said.

Marx related the anecdote on Tuesday to a diverse crowd of 74 persons about to be sworn in as U.S. citizens in the beaux arts building on Fifth Avenue that serves as the library’s main branch “The library is your place for angels,” he told them. “New York and America is now your country to make as much of it as you possibly can imagine. We couldn’t be more proud.”

Some 18,000 people became U.S. citizens in 180 naturalization ceremonies across the nation from September 16 to the 23. In the 2013 fiscal year, 503,104 people were naturalized.

The men and women at this naturalization ceremony hailed from 40 different countries.

Sunitha Akula, a computer software engineer living upstate and her husband Pavan have been in the U.S. for 14 years.

“It’s a very special day for me,” said Akula, misty eyed. “I’m getting a little emotional. The opportunities that we got here in this country are amazing. Moving from India, we have seen good progress in this country.”

Her husband, Pavan, praised the educational opportunities in the States, something they appreciated as parents. The couple’s sons, ages 10 and 7, who were dressed patriotically in blue pants, white and blue stripped shirts, and red ties, waved American flags proudly as they watched their parents.

However, there are many people who are not as lucky. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, about 400,000 undocumented aliens are deported each year.

Akula said he supports the path for immigration and those facing deportation should be reviewed case by case.

“Out of the 400,000, you don’t know how many have criminal backgrounds,” Akula said. “As far as the DREAM Act, both Democrats and Republicans are looking at it seriously, but politics is politics.”

Since the Senate passed its comprehensive immigration reform bill in June, the issue has picked up speed in Congress. However, the bill is still in legislative limbo with roadblocks from the House of Representatives and now the overshadowing events in Syria.

Tin Nguyen, who has been working in a nail salon for five years, said how much finally becoming a U.S. citizen meant to him. “I have been waiting all of my lifetime,” he Vietnam native said.

Professor Karl Bardosh, who teaches film at NYU, emigrated from Hungary and settled in Brooklyn in 1970. “I feel more at home in a country with immigrants,” he said.

Bardosh became a citizen five years after emigrating and said it was one of the most important choices he made as an adult.He said he regarded the act as “my second birth that I gave myself was more significant then the first birth because it was accident. I had nothing to do with my first birth. I had everything to do with my second birth”

Coming from a former Communist country, Bardosh said that most people born here take freedom for granted because they can’t compare it to the outside world. As an international filmmaker, he has seen the world and said that the United States is still the number one country where determined people can achieve their dreams. “You can be the master of your own plan and that’s freedom,” he said.

But many American believe their freedom is at risk with insecure borders and illegal immigration. “We absolutely must secure the boarders for our own security,” Bardosh added. “At the same time, I think it would be grossly unfair, especially for children who grew up here, to deny them education.”

At the ceremony immigration official Denis Riordan announced the names of each country of origin of applicants who then rose from their seats before being awarded the naturalization certificates. By the time all the countries were named, they all stood tall like a united community.

Tathiane Thompson, 28, who emigrated from Brazil 10 years ago, said one of her favorite things about being in the U.S. is the diverse culture. An accounting major in her fifth and final year at Pace University, Thompson said she was excited for her journey to nationalization to come to an end after applying in January.

Whether Congress is able to come to a consensus over immigration reform before the end of this year, it is important to reflect on immigrants who came to this country seeking a place where democracy was not just an ideal, but a reality.

These realities were told through the stories of WWII survivors and keynote speakers Ida and Kenneth Dancyger, who themselves became citizens at the ceremony. Ida, a Holocaust survivor from Poland, emigrated first to Canada in 1949. Her husband fled Nazi Germany for Canada during the war. Now they were becoming citizens of the U.S.

“All of us are underdogs at one stage or another in our lives,” said Kenneth Dancyger “A chance to improve status is justice; it’s justice operated in a small, but critical scale. For me, I believe for all immigrants the United States remains the country where you can follow your dreams and your dreams come true.”

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