I came here 25 years ago with loads of hopes for learning and growth. Thank you America for accepting me as one of yours. This year is special as I celebrate the day as a US citizen for the first time. It has been truly amazing to experience the opportunity, freedom, integrity and rewards for the hard work in pursuit of the true American dream. Wishing you all a very happy Independence Day.
That’s awesome, Sanjay Nagaraj!!! Hope you and your family had a memorable 4th of July!
25 years for a legal, honestly hard working, tech immigrant to become a IS citizen but immediate benefits and free housing/schooling/medical for illegal immigrants who just cross the border, something went wrong here.
Yay Sanjay! Congratulations on your naturalization! I hope you had a great ceremony! YAY immigrants! At my ceremony, gosh, 22 or something like that years ago, the guy was absolutely BUTCHERING everyone's name. Hundreds of people and the only person he got okay was a nice canadian lady with name like Emily Smith. The folks from the Indian subcontinent had no chance. My then girlfriend and now wife and I got a terrible case of the giggles and infected quite a lot of neighbors. Ah well, all good memories.
I know the feeling. I had the same experience over a decade ago.
Congrats and thank you for being an example to all of us that the American Dream is still alive and thriving. You are an example of what America is all about.
At one point, somebody in all of our lineage came here with that very same hope and dream. It’s what makes us, us. So proud of what you’ve already done and something tells me there’s so much more coming. Even more so to call you a friend. Happy 4th, Sanjay Nagaraj 🎆🎇🎆
Congratulations on achieving your American dream, Sanjay! Your journey is a testament to the power of hard work and resilience. Happy Independence Day!
Way to go! Surprised it took so long
Since I've received comments and messages about 25 years being a long time, I wanted to address that briefly. There are legal immigration reasons but it is a combination of personal choices/decisions and legal immigration reasons for the 25-year journey to becoming a US citizen. Indeed, there's much that can be done to improve legal immigration, but that's a topic for another time after more research. I'm incredibly grateful for everything I've gained and continue to gain from my birthplace, India, and my adopted lands, Canada and the US. This post was meant to celebrate all that the US has given me and countless others who come from remote parts of India and other countries to live the American dream .