Politics

/

ArcaMax

I became an American citizen a day after Trump's inauguration

Stan Chu Ilo, Chicago Tribune on

Published in Political News

When I received Jan. 21 as the date to take my oath for naturalization as an American citizen, a bone-chilling uncertainty flooded my entire being. I was afraid that the new president would stop all naturalization ceremonies in one fell swoop as he canceled all existing appointments on a border app called CBP One for new migrants.

I walked into the federal court in Chicago for the ceremonies still afraid that there might be a last-minute presidential executive order to stop all naturalization ceremonies. Happily, the ceremony took place.

The beauty and rich symbolism of that day will live in my memory forever. As I returned home on that chilly day, I reflected on why I became an American citizen and my hope for this country I now call my home in these uncertain times of President Donald Trump’s second coming.

I became an American citizen because I believe in the enduring ideals of freedom, human rights and equality of the United States of America. I am convinced that these ideals are the aspirations of all people and will outlive any president or party.

At our naturalization ceremony, I saw how these ideals could coalesce in a melting pot. There were 113 people from 40 countries and five continents, new Americans all — Africans and Arabs, Muslims and Jews; Black and white; young and old; Christians and Hindus; believers and atheists. We all came by different roads but were united in a common journey embracing the American Dream and the ideals of diversity, inclusivity and equity based on the motto of America, “ E pluribus unum” — “Out of many, one.”

My love for America goes back to my roots in Nigeria. America remains to date the touchstone of all that is good and great in the West in the eyes of many Nigerians.

According to a Rockefeller Foundation-Aspen Diaspora Program (RAD) analysis, of the 15 countries, Nigerians constitute about 0.6% of foreign-born citizens in the U.S. About half of these Nigerians arrived before 2000, while about the same number are naturalized as U.S. citizens. The same report notes that Nigerian immigrants in the United States are among the most highly educated and make significant contributions to the economy through their high labor force participation and relatively high-income levels compared with the national average.

Many of my fellow new citizens came to America to pursue dreams that are not possible in their native lands. The 2019 demographic trends of the Pew Research Center show that the U.S is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse due to immigration and that by 2055, there will be no single ethnic or racial majority in the U.S. The anti-immigration sentiment and its time-worn justification came about in the U.S today through new forms of nativism and monoculturalism that have resurrected under Trump. But these are the result of a toxic ferment that has been brewed through the distortion of America’s history leading to the objectification of the nonwhite “other” as the enemy or a threat to America’s way of life and economy.

It is not surprising that the FBI’s hate crime statistics for 2023 showed an uptick in the number of single- and multi-bias hate crimes against minorities: 52.5% based on race/ethnicity and ancestry, 22.5% on religion and 18.4% on sexual orientation.

As a new citizen here, I believe that the future of America will be built by all Americans and not through any demagogue or grand narrative of cosmic and global conquest that turns America’s back on the world.

 

The American future will not be shaped by a totalizing “Make America Great Again” vision and ideology. The claim that there is only one correct approach to meeting the inevitable challenges that America will face is quite misleading. Indeed, the MAGA utopian praxis masks the true threats to America’s greatness and liberty — false messianism and oligarchy — with unpredictable long-term consequences.

In this alternate American universe, the president seeks loyalty in tow while undermining the Constitution and the ideals that no one is above the law and that the government exists to serve the people. Governance becomes a transactional patron-client exchange in which citizens are beholden to the diktat of presidential powers, punishment and pardons.

The truth is that many Americans are on edge. In a 2019 survey of what Americans think the United States would be in 2050, Pew Research found that only 56% of Americans were somewhat positive about the future. Most Americans, according to this survey, worry about the burgeoning national debt, wider gap between the rich and poor, the loss of jobs to automation, less affordable health care, a weak economy, environmental degradation and natural disasters.

This state of affairs explains why many Americans feel disconnected from the political process and civic culture and are searching for hope or belonging through fringe groups. Lies, deception and political utopia dominate the public space. In this desperate search for hope, many Americans believe the false narratives that a billionaire and his billionaire friends and special interests, who benefit from the systems and structures that have created so much inequality and intergenerational poverty in America, can lift the poor from poverty and create wealth for all in America.

The ideal of America as a melting pot is what I experienced on the day I took my oath as an American citizen. It is an ideal worth fighting for and worth celebrating. It is what defines America. Despite the current uncertainties about the future of America, even though Black men like me feel that being in America can sometimes be like an existential threat because of racism, I still believe in the founding ideals of this country. Fidelity to them will secure America as a land of promise where people from all the ends of the earth can realize the ideals of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

____

Stan Chu Ilo is a research professor with the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University in Chicago.

___


©2025 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

ACLU

ACLU

By The ACLU
Amy Goodman

Amy Goodman

By Amy Goodman
Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Bill Press

Bill Press

By Bill Press
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

Bonnie Jean Feldkamp

By Bonnie Jean Feldkamp
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
Clarence Page

Clarence Page

By Clarence Page
Danny Tyree

Danny Tyree

By Danny Tyree
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Dick Polman

Dick Polman

By Dick Polman
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
Froma Harrop

Froma Harrop

By Froma Harrop
Jacob Sullum

Jacob Sullum

By Jacob Sullum
Jamie Stiehm

Jamie Stiehm

By Jamie Stiehm
Jeff Robbins

Jeff Robbins

By Jeff Robbins
Jessica Johnson

Jessica Johnson

By Jessica Johnson
Jim Hightower

Jim Hightower

By Jim Hightower
Joe Conason

Joe Conason

By Joe Conason
Joe Guzzardi

Joe Guzzardi

By Joe Guzzardi
John Micek

John Micek

By John Micek
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Marc Munroe Dion

Marc Munroe Dion

By Marc Munroe Dion
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

By Michael Reagan
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

By Oliver North and David L. Goetsch
R. Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell

By R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry

By Rich Lowry
Robert B. Reich

Robert B. Reich

By Robert B. Reich
Ruben Navarrett Jr

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
Ruth Marcus

Ruth Marcus

By Ruth Marcus
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Susan Estrich

Susan Estrich

By Susan Estrich
Ted Rall

Ted Rall

By Ted Rall
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Tom Purcell

Tom Purcell

By Tom Purcell
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

Gary Markstein Dave Whamond Jack Ohman Peter Kuper Randy Enos Monte Wolverton