Voices: New U.S. citizens give meaning to 'united'

MIAMI — To call the USA a divided nation as Donald Trump became the 45th president is probably the understatement of the new year.

That’s why, after so many months of heated political rhetoric about the future of this country, I set out to find a place where people see something different. I found that at a naturalization ceremony in Miami last week, where foreigners raised their hands, swore their allegiance to the United States and became its newest citizens.

I met a Cuban man who made 11 attempts to flee his communist island on homemade rafts before finally making it to shore. He chokes up when trying to describe what it means to be part of a true democracy. I met Nicaraguan brothers who fled their native homeland to escape the constant death threats against their father and have lived in political asylum ever since.

“We’ve been waiting for this day for 16 years,” said Angel Herrera, 23, who studies business administration at Miami Dade College. “For my dad? It’s a big day.”

I met a man who left the Bahamas so he could attend a U.S. university, intending to head back home once he graduated, but he decided he’d found a new home. And I met a Colombian woman who fled a war-ravaged corner of Colombia so her daughter could have a more peaceful life.

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“Every time I see Mickey Mouse, I cry,” said Patricia Arciniegas, 43.

Every person I met spoke of their long and arduous journeys to reach this moment. There were five from Haiti, four from Venezuela, three from Ecuador, two from Bulgaria and one each from China, Angola and France. All told, 162 people became U.S. citizens that day, cheered on by family and friends who eagerly took videos and posed for pictures next to a 6-foot replica of the Statue of Liberty.

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“Everybody looks at themselves and sees division and angst and fear,” Desmond Nichols said. “But every country in the world has internal, attitudinal problems. We’ve seen it with the French elections this year. We’ve seen it with Brexit in England. There is division and confusion in nearly every country in the world.”

That helps explain why Nichols, 65, a marketing executive from the United Kingdom, doesn’t panic when he hears the hyperbolic talk around him and instead chose to live in Florida and become a U.S. citizen.

“I see greater opportunities for us, and our children, in years to come in this country more than any other country in the world,” he said, standing with his wife after swearing his oath of allegiance. “In spite of what’s happened with the election and all the rhetoric and the hot air that’s gone with it, the people have spoken. And I have no doubt that when all the dust settles, this country will move forward as one."

In the next few days and months as Trump’s campaign promises turn into public policy, the political battles might become more intense. As you argue with friends, family and co-workers, take a breath once in a while to remember why so many people risk their lives to come to this country and be a part of it.

Because it may not seem like it right now, but the word “united” is right there in our country’s name.