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naturalization

Ancestry

Journalist Roger Bennett joined the ranks of the more than 700,000 people who will become American citizens in 2018.

Bennett, who co-hosts NBC Sports Network's "Men in Blazers" show and podcast, grew up in the United Kingdom. Though he's lived in the United States for some time (he got married here in 2000), it wasn't until 2014 that he committed to becoming a citizen. The process was long and tedious, but on June 1, he realized that goal.

Tomorrow, I will be sworn in as an American Citizen. Just typing those words feels emotionally overwhelming. These… https://t.co/KHL4uLouNi
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794518

On Twitter, Bennett shared a powerful story about the many feelings he had about becoming a U.S. citizen in current times.

He begins by sharing the story of his great-grandfather who tried to emigrate to the U.S. in the 1890s only to mistake Liverpool for New York. "That family tale always made me feel deeply connected to America," he wrote.

It may have been the close relationship I shared with my grandfather, Sam, who also adored America. As a kid, we pl… https://t.co/fjGikMxb76
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794519

Liverpool remains one of the greatest cities in the world, but in 1980's "Thatcher Britain," my hometown was econom… https://t.co/31DYQlFQoh
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794520

Growing up, his view of America, communicated through pop culture, inspired him to chase his own dreams.

He even used his bedroom to display his patriotism, painting three of the walls red, white, and blue.

on television, showed me it was possible to thrive, in glorious technicolor, in a place where everything felt possi… https://t.co/giVLWiGvVZ
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794520

On the fourth I designed a giant mural of the Stars and Stripes, replete with a clumsy approximation of the Manhatt… https://t.co/apgnmEYQPG
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794521

After graduating from college, those dreams brought him to Chicago, due in part to his love of John Hughes films — which honestly seems as good a reason as any to choose Chicago.

Amidst my carefully constructed Coke can collection and medley of random sporting pennants, are posters of “Refrige… https://t.co/r3FS8lkGVF
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794522

I moved to Chicago right after college, largely out of my love for John Hughes movies. I knew no one, working 3 shi… https://t.co/zbKOdLhrY7
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794524

On the day of his naturalization ceremony, Bennett put a fine cap on his family's 130-year journey, calling it the achievement of his lifetime.

He hopes that future generations of his family will think of him and how he was the one who moved the family to America. He doesn't even care if they remember his name.

in as an American. I will have a photograph of my Grandpa Sam in my pocket as I do so. A reminder that as I become… https://t.co/RZ7uDl3Oug
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794525

a murderous Cossack. He was "the Cossack Killer." I hope in 5 generations, my Men In Blazers head shot hangs on one… https://t.co/43GSR2HsAS
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527794528

Naturally, he celebrated his citizenship as any freshly minted American would: with a Budweiser.

He grew up dreaming of an idealized notion of America, and while it may not always live up to the model as it existed in his mind, it's a country he loves. His journey is like that of so many immigrants, just people chasing their dreams and hoping for a better world for their families. Immigrants are what make America great, whether they arrived here in the 1890s (as Bennett's great-grandfather intended) or today.

When we turn our back on immigrants, whether a starry-eyed dreamer like Bennett or someone fleeing persecution in their home country, we turn our back on our own history. Patriotism means pushing the U.S. to live up to the ideals burned into Bennett's memory, not edge toward isolation.

Welcome and congratulations, Roger Bennett, American citizen.

Last tweet before security take my phone. Am in security at the courthouse. It’s an amazingly powerful scene. Peopl… https://t.co/D58koLNnPG
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527860968

American Rog 🇺🇸 one of 162 New Americans Sworn in from 47 countries around the World. "I pledge allegiance to the… https://t.co/Kffzp0qzW4
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527870489

From a Liverpool boy who loved everything American and longed to move there, to a Gent who finally made it 30 years… https://t.co/LZ8uE64qPh
— roger bennett (@roger bennett) 1527875656

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'All my friends in Washington said, "There is one thing you can do: fight."'

Sir Patrick Stewart is a man of many roles, but it's his latest that might be the most daring of all: American citizen.

While on "The View" to discuss what it was like playing Charles Xavier one final time in "Logan," Stewart announced that, after 30 years as a permanent resident of the U.S., he's decided to pursue citizenship.

GIFs from The View/YouTube.

Citing a desire to "fight" back against the Trump administration and its policies, the 76-year-old is taking a leap that will likely have him ready to cast votes in the 2018 and 2020 elections.

If he doesn't like Trump, why would he want to become a citizen? Aren't people packing up and moving to Canada? So, about that...

It may come as a shock, but though many people make sweeping pronouncements about leaving the country if a certain politician gets elected or a specific policy becomes law, few actually do it. In 2010, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh pledged to move to Costa Rica if the Affordable Care Act became law (a bit of irony: Limbaugh slammed the ACA as being "socialized medicine," while Costa Rica offers actual socialized medicine). During the 2016 election, a number of celebrities suggested they'd move to Canada in the event of a Trump victory.

As it stands, Limbaugh still lives in the U.S, and there hasn't been some mass exodus from Hollywood in the wake of Trump's win. And for good reason.

For one, it's actually really hard for Americans to become Canadian citizens. To most people, it's simply not worth the time, money, and hassle to pack up and move to a new country just because you don't like a politician.

Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images.

Beyond that, escaping American policies isn't as simple as crossing a border — something Stewart has noted on social media before.

"What the White House does ripples round the world," he tweeted in 2015. He's right. What the U.S. does affects the rest of the globe, just as an action taken by another global superpower like China, the United Kingdom, or Russia, affects the U.S.

— (@)

How any one country reacts to some issues, such as climate change, will affect us all. In short, most issues caused by politicians aren't simply things we can run from. That's why Stewart's approach makes so much sense.

Photo by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images.

It is worth noting the privilege Stewart has to be able to simply decide he wants to become a U.S. citizen. What may be easy for him isn't so easy for people with fewer resources.

And that's why we need real, comprehensive immigration reform. Just this week, a 22-year-old woman named Daniela Vargas was arrested and will be deported without a hearing. Though undocumented, Vargas was here as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. She was waiting on her DACA renewal to come through when she was detained.

The current immigration system makes it easy for well-off celebrities like Stewart to become citizens (which could take as little as a few months in his particular case), but doesn't offer a pathway to citizenship for people like Vargas. That needs to change. Still, it's good to see that Stewart is doing what he can to join in the fight for what he believes in with his voice and with his vote.

Watch Stewart's interview on "The View" below.

New data suggest that Trump's rise is driving more immigrants than ever before to become U.S. citizens.

Thanks to a decisive victory in the Indiana primary and the suspension of Ted Cruz's campaign, Donald Trump is pretty likely to secure the Republican nomination for president of the United States.

The online reaction thus far has been... Let's call it "disappointed."

Trump has been spewing hateful rhetoric since the day he announced his campaign.

He's referred to immigrants as "rapists," "criminals," and "killers." He regularly responds to female opposition with sexist, misogynistic attacks. He not only witnessed the unjustifiable violence that punctuated many of his rallies, but he encouraged it.

He's also talked about his hands. Like ... a lot.

But believe it or not, Trump's hate speech has inspired some really positive movement from the group he appears to despise most: immigrants.

Similar to how gun-owners often stockpile weapons and ammunition following a gun-related tragedy — because they're worried gun safety legislation will make guns and ammo harder to buy — Trump's political ascension and his promise to enlist a "deportation force" to exile some 11 million undocumented immigrants has led to an unlikely but significant increase in the number of immigrants applying for citizenship here in the United States.

A May 1, 2016, May Day march. Photo by David McNew/Getty Images

According to the The New York Times, naturalization applications spiked by 14% in the last half of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. And they're on pace to break records for 2016 as well.

One immigrant, Edgar Ospina, told the Associated Press that the anti-immigrant sentiment being stirred up by Trump's rise was the driving force behind his decision to apply for naturalization.

An owner of a small flooring and kitchen remodeling company, Ospina emigrated from Columbia over 20 years ago and became eligible for citizenship in 1990, but he has only recently decided there is no time left to waste.

A large group waits to take the citizenship oath that will allow them to become U.S. citizens in 2015. Photo by Saul Loeb, AFP, Getty Images.

"Trump is dividing us as a country," Ospina told. "He's so negative about immigrants. We've got to speak up."

Luis Gutiérrez, a 10-term U.S. Representative from Illinois, also took to the public airwaves to encourage immigrants to apply for citizenship so they can vote in November.

"We want to raise our voices because the city of Chicago has an incredibly proud tradition of being inclusive, of bringing people together," Gutierrez said during a protest last month. "And Mr. Trump has the tradition of division, of hatred, of bigotry, of prejudice. We are asking all of Chicago to stand up."

Another unforeseen silver lining to Trump's campaign of hate? The reimagining of the Republican party.

Trump might be the Republican party's nominee for this year's political race, but he couldn't be further from what many members of the party consider to be the true embodiment of Republican ideals.

Image via Saul Loeb, AFP, Getty Images.

He waffles often on his stances, appearing to support gay marriage, calling out North Carolina's ridiculous HB2 bill, and supporting both universal health care and higher taxes for the wealthy. In fact, he's even gone on record in the past as saying, "In many cases, I probably identify more as a Democrat.”

As a result, more and more Americans are being forced to rethink what the Republican party means to them, and some people are even deregistering from the party.

Trump has been such a divisive figure among Republicans that he even led to the dissolution of the Friends of Abe, a "secret society" of conservative Hollywood elites.

All of this just goes to show that hate can still inspire good, even when that hate comes from the darkest of sources.

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images