July 3, 2025, was one of the best days of my life. After decades of dreaming and a challenging immigration journey, on that day I finally became an American.
As a naturalized citizen who chose to be here out of reverence for this country’s founding principles, I believe the U.S. should be more welcoming of others like me who want to build a life here in freedom and work to preserve those values, as I do. But the door that once welcomed me is slowly closing.
America reached me well before I reached its shores. I was born in Argentina, and have wanted to become an American citizen since I was four years old and first learned about this nation.
Growing up, I was obsessed with American culture, which I consumed through television shows, movies, literature and video games. Even from a young age, I could sense something was valuably different about it, and I wanted to be a part of this culture for more reasons than I could fully understand. When, at age nine, I finally got to see the U.S. myself on a family trip to Florida, everything I had read about and watched on TV became real: America was a place of unparalleled abundance, where seemingly anyone could go and make their dreams a reality. It felt bountiful, safe, limitless.
I appreciated Argentina overall and never had to face hardship or poverty there, even after the Kirchner government took power and brought the country to its knees. My family always kept me financially secure, and I knew that if I stayed there I could have a good enough life, despite the country’s lack of safety and stability.
But I didn’t want just “good enough.” I wanted the best. And America was the only place that could provide that.
My legal immigration journey took eight years, and it was challenging, expensive and traumatic. Still, I am lucky I got to immigrate legally. For many people, it takes decades just to get a green card, and even longer if they want to become citizens. And the vast majority of people like me, including those who love this country from afar, have no way of immigrating to America legally because the immigration system prevents them from doing so. The avenues for legal immigration are much more restrictive than most Americans think.
This has been true for decades, under both Democratic and Republican administrations. But the current political climate is especially hostile to immigrants. The federal government is stripping legal status away from many who came here lawfully, and is treating peaceful people who couldn’t come legally as “invaders.” The Trump administration wants to reduce all immigration, closing the door on others like me, who have long been American in every way — except on paper.
America is not just a place. It’s an idea that represents freedom, justice and the pursuit of happiness. It’s an idea that transcends frontiers and reaches people in all corners of the world like it reached me — 4,500 miles away from its borders. It’s an idea that “Americanizes” people across the globe.
There are millions of Americans around the world who’ve never set foot on American soil. That’s the power of America, and no other nation in history has been able to achieve that.
I cherish and respect this country profoundly, in spite of its many flaws and historical and contemporary injustices. The Declaration of Independence is the most important, beautiful and pro-individual political document in the history of mankind. The extent to which America has lived up to the principles in this document is what has made it free. I am grateful to be able to enjoy that freedom as a naturalized American and to help preserve these values. Many others like me would cherish the same opportunity.
It is precisely because I love this country that I want to see more people thriving, producing, building a life here and making America freer, safer and more prosperous. I want peaceful, productive people like me to be afforded the chance to come here and not be treated like enemies.
For America to live up to its founding principles and remain a beacon of freedom, it must remain open to peaceful strivers. We need an immigration system with more legal pathways for immigrants, and a federal government that doesn’t criminalize them with its rhetoric and actions.
I want an America with more Americans. It is my honor to be an American, and I don’t want the door to close behind me.
Agustina Vergara Cid, LL.B. and LL.M, is a Young Voices contributor.
