"It was April, just a few months since the new administration took over in the White House, and Cynthia Verduzco walked into an office for the most important interview of her life: She was applying to be a United States citizen. After she was born in Mexico, her family moved to Los Angeles when she was an infant, then to Newark when she was in middle school. She raised three kids here."
"Nervous as ever, she stepped into the waiting room and looked up at a television. On the screen: government officials threatening to deport undocumented people. But Verduzco had a leg up: A team of experts from the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area had been working with her, preparing her for this interview, helping her understand her rights and organize her documents, and offering emotional support along the way."
Cynthia Verduzco, born in Mexico, moved with her family to Los Angeles as an infant and later to Newark, where she raised three children. Verduzco applied for U.S. citizenship and faced nerve-wracking interviews at a Department of Homeland Security office, watching televised threats of deportation while her U.S.-citizen husband could not accompany her. The Immigration Institute of the Bay Area prepared her with legal education, document organization, rights counseling, and emotional support. Fear is being used to deter immigrants from pursuing citizenship. Calls to the institute surged from about 8,000 in January 2024 to over 16,000 one year later as concern grew.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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