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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2011Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Emily Sherwood -
Authors
▪ Alyssa Alicino
▪ Brandon Baksh
▪ Ru Xiao Chen
▪ Belinda Chiu
▪ Els de Graauw
▪ Becca Glickman
▪ Elisabeth Greenberg
▪ Doris Hu
▪ Peky Huang
▪ Toby Joseph
▪ Haesol Jun
▪ Nika Kartvelishvili
▪ Farrukh Khan
▪ Holly Kiang
▪ Julian Kipnis
▪ Kar Yi Lim
▪ Yang Lin
▪ Cait McCarthy
▪ Sofya Moshkovich
▪ Mariya Tuchinskaya
▪ Ying Zhang Login
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Political Participation & Citizenship
When immigrants become American citizens, they become full members of U.S. society and they can enjoy the full rights, privileges, and protections of living in this country. Many immigrants choose to become American citizens because citizenship epitomizes their sense of belonging to the United States or because it allows them to express their gratitude to a country that offered them a better economic future or refuge from religious or political persecution. Others, however, have chosen to acquire U.S. citizenship with the goal of participating in American politics.
But not all immigrants have naturalized or taken advantage of the right to vote. Many migrated to the United States solely for economic reasons and feel they lack the time or knowledge to participate in politics. Others, in contrast, are weary of participating in the political process because of their experiences with corrupt and manipulative political leaders in their home countries.
The following quotes illustrate a range of responses from the immigrants we interviewed about how they feel about citizenship and political participation in the United States.
Click on another subcategory (Immigration Process, Learning English, Encounters with Discrimination, Finding Employment, or Miscellaneous) to explore other quotations about the immigration process.
No Time for Politics
Alexandra is a 32-year-old Russian immigrant who has lived in the United States for eight years. She commented the following on American politics:
I’m kind of interested but […] I think the answer is that I don’t have time to follow [politics], because you have to read a lot, to watch lot. There is just a lot going on beside that.”
Juggling Triple Citizenship
Johnny, 30, was born in Venezuela, grew up in Colombia, and moved to Queens for the first time at the age of 11. After some back and forth, he settled in the United States at the age of 18. He talks about the challenges of being a citizen of more than one country:
I focus a lot of my attention where I live, so I am more involved here. I am actually concerned with what happens here because I am here. But I am also very close, I am more close to Columbia, or my citizenship of Columbia, because that is where most of my family is from. Ever since I was little, I was always a foreigner. Even in Columbia, I was a foreigner. In Venezuela, it wasn’t really that I was a foreigner, but I really wasn’t raised there, I don’t speak their accent. Venezuelans, they view me a as foreigner. […] The view for me has been, even here, it’s not that different. I always came from somewhere else. But, I do live here and therefore I take more interest.”
Why Bother with Citizenship?
Casey immigrated from Hong Kong when she was 18 years old and has been living in New York City for nine years. When asked about acquiring citizenship and voting rights, she replied:
I might just be a green card holder forever. I really think that a so-called green card holder shares many benefits already. […] I don’t see many differences except that you can’t vote. […] I don’t understand why we can’t vote. I don’t see what’s the point in not being able to vote. Maybe it’s because they don’t think we understand the customs. But it’s memorizing questions out of a book anyways.”
Citizenship at Last
Irina immigrated to America from Russia. She is now 39 years old and has been in America for 21 years. Irena talks about her desire to become a U.S. citizen:
I knew I wanted to be a citizen. This is why I came here. I wanted to live the American lifestyle in the amazing country and that meant becoming a citizen. I never even thought about not becoming a citizen. When we left Russia, we had to give up our Russian citizenship; we were forced to. We had no citizenship we did not belong anywhere, until we came to America.”
I Want to Become a Citizen
Jennifer moved to the United States from mainland China when she was 21 years old in 2002. She has been in the United States for more than eight years now. When asked about her intention of becoming a citizen, she commented:
Of course. I mean I already have a home here. And after they granted me a legal status, which I appreciate so much, I must become a citizen to show them my good faith to stay in this land. I want to become an American. And I want to integrate into the American culture and society. In the future, I can have better communication with my children, who are citizens. […] Yes. Definitely. One of the duties for citizens is to vote in elections. When I become a citizen, I will vote to fulfill my duty.”
Don’t Care and Vote Only When It’s Important
Antonio, a 43 year-old Mexican man who immigrated from Mexico, has been living in America for 28 years. He recently became a citizen and was able to vote in the 2008 presidential election. He reflected on his experience of being a citizens and being able to participate in the political process:
Yeah, I voted in the 2008 election, of course. That was a big election and I felt I should go vote since this was the first time I was able to vote for president. Other than that, I don’t tend to vote like for the little guys. Actually, I voted in the one that just happened, for the governor. That one was big and important so I voted. I don’t have too much time to follow politics, so yeah voting is only for the big ones like the president or the governor or mayor.
Later on in the interview, Antonip commented that he generally is not very interested in politics:
No, I am not very active in politics at all. I mean, I read the newspaper and everything, and we talk about it sometimes during dinner or when we watch the news, but it’s just not that important. I don’t care about some of the things, like gay marriage. I don’t care about gay marriage. They can do what they want I don’t care. I am too busy sometimes to care too much about politics, so talking about it is okay, but I don’t have the time to go into it and fight for this side or that side.”
Not Democratic. Not Republian. Just Neutral.
Kevin is a Chinese immigrant who came into the United States in 2003 when he was 18 years old. He commented on his lack of partisanship:
Well, naturally I don’t I don’t have a [political] side. Naturally I don’t take sides… I’m neutral.”
Rock the Vote
Ivan came to America at the age of 15 from St. Petersburg, Russia. He is now 47 and an American citizen, has a family, and works as a freelance computer programmer. When asked whether or not he thought he had integrated into U.S. society and whether he maintained ties with his native country, Kevin responded (partly translated from Russian):
I cannot complain. I have a job. I work. I have friends. I try to stay informed about the news and I vote in the presidential elections. [I like to be part of] a little bit of both [cultures], I guess.”
Voting for the Right Goverment and a Better Economy
Joe immigrated to the United States from Malaysia when he was 21 years old and has been living in New York City for over 30 years. He commented on what issues drive him to vote:
I pay attention to political agendas and all that. I have preference for certain political parties. I do listen to the news and everything. What I care about is the general health of the economy so maybe if I vote, the right people they will do us, the economy, good.”
We Don’t Vote for Small Things
Svetlana, a 41-year-old immigrant from Russia, has been living here for 15 years. She commented how she and her husband do not tend to participate in local elections:
My husband and I are registered to vote, and we do vote but mostly in major elections. We don’t really vote for small things like councilmen and stuff like that. We don’t really do anything else. We’re not that politically active. We just vote… It’s not that we don’t care about local politics. We just feel like we’re not that informed… like we’re not informed enough to vote for these smaller elections and make a good decision. So, we just kind of stay out of it.”
Tit for Tat
Daisy immigrated to the United States from India. She is now 58 years old and has been in the country for over 28 years. She mentioned the following when asked about her political tendencies:
We don’t vote or support any party. As we see it we vote. It depends on what we care and what applies to us. Then we vote on who helps us most.”
Being American
Alexandra, a 32-year-old Russian immigrant who has lived in this country for eight years, talked about the practical sides of being an American citizen:
My husband thinks I have to be proud to be American. Uh, I don’t know. It just means to me no problem living in this country, which I’m happy about [laughs]. And travel.”
Political Junkie
Irina immigrated to America from Russia. She is now 39 years old and has been in America for 21 years. She commented how closely she follows U.S. political events:
I am very involved. I buy all the newspapers and read about politics all the time. I vote in every election. I have a real appreciation for the freedom that I have in this great country.”
