The SpokeSman • TueSday, ocTober 11, 2022 A5
New U.S. citizen to be teaching assistant
BY JOE SIESS
CO Media Group
W
hen Celia Leonard first
came to the United States
from Mexico City in 1991,
she never imagined she would be
working the night shift at a dairy
farm in rural Washington state.
The job was hard, and different
from the life she knew amid the con-
crete, and hustle and bustle of Mexico
City. For starters, she had never seen a
cow in real life. It was on those morn-
ings after work, when she saw the vast-
ness of the skies and the movements
of the clouds, that she was reminded
of the dreams that first brought her to
America.
Those dreams included one day be-
coming a U.S. citizen, and getting an
education, perhaps a college degree.
“My dream was always, ‘when I
grow up, I want to go to the United
States,’” Leonard said recently. “I tell
my husband, before I die, I want to be
somebody.”
It took her more than three decades,
but in August, the 53-year-old mother
of three became a naturalized U.S. citi-
zen. Such an important milestone was
possible with help from the Latino
Community Association, an organi-
zation in Central Oregon dedicated to
empowering the region’s Latino and
immigrant population.
Leonard, who moved to Redmond
in 2005 where she now cleans houses
for a living, was able to access essential
resources from the association, took a
10-week preparation course for her cit-
izenship exam, and received free legal
counseling and application assistance
from the association’s Immigration
Services Manager, Oscar Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was able to help guide
Leonard, but it really was her unyield-
ing commitment that got her to this
point.
“I never lost my hope,” Leonard said
of her journey toward citizenship. “I
feel a release. Everything is legal. Now,
everything is right...Something in my
heart was released…Now I do not have
any worries.”
Leonard’s path to citizenship in-
cluded many disappointing meetings
with lawyers, and countless rejections.
Her first step was getting a work per-
mit, which was not easy, she said.
“Since I came to the United States
I had been applying for a work per-
ryan brennecke/The bulletin
Celia Leonard sits in her living room in Redmond while holding a framed copy of her naturalization certificate, flag and an oath of
allegiance she received when becoming a United States citizen this summer.
ryan brennecke/The bulletin
A framed copy of Celia Leonard’s naturalization certificate, flag and an oath of allegiance
she received after becoming a United States citizen this summer.
mit, and they always denied it. I was
talking to lawyers, and they said there
are no laws that can support you, there
is nothing we can do to help you,” she
said. “Every year, we tried to apply and
we tried to apply, and every time you
apply you have to pay…it is really ex-
pensive.”
It wasn’t until March of 2013 that
Leonard received a work visa. She was
granted three years, and as long as she
didn’t break the law, she could apply
for a green card, which she eventually
did. By 2017, she became a lawful per-
manent resident, but she still wanted
citizenship status. She was told she
could apply after five years.
As the five year mark approached,
she started planning her next move,
while raising her two younger chil-
dren, both teenagers, and learning En-
glish and educating herself as best as
she could.
She called the Latino Community
Association, and learned it offered
classes on how to obtain citizenship.
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pan-
demic had disrupted the organization
and things took longer than expected.
Around this time, her oldest son, Man-
uel Maya, died from COVID-19.
Her son’s death was a difficult mo-
ment, but fighting through the pain,
she stayed focused on her citizenship
goal. That is where Gonzalez, came in.
Gonzalez said the association re-
cently became accredited by the Ore-
gon Department of Justice, allowing it
to work with Immigration Counseling
Services, a nonprofit immigration law
firm.
Leonard was one of the first clients
to utilize the association’s services,
Gonzalez said.
“I let it be known to all our students
that we are not immigration attorneys,
but we do this work to support you in
your efforts to complete the process,”
Gonzalez said. “Filling out the paper-
work, and reviewing it, and signing
off on it, and now that we are an ac-
credited rep, we can let USCIS (United
States Citizenship and Immigration
Services) know who we are so we can
also be updated on what is going on
with your case.”
Gonzalez said getting legal help is
difficult for a lot of folks who come to
the country undocumented, and that
federal immigration law desperately
needs reform in order to give immi-
grants a chance and to help alleviate
the nation’s growing labor shortage.
Making it easier to get a green card is
one solution, he said.
“Having that green card is huge, be-
cause it gives you that foot in the door,”
Gonzalez said. “But it is a huge hurdle
that honestly is so unobtainable for the
vast majority of the 11 million undoc-
umented people in the U.S.”
Gonzalez said since 2016 up un-
til recently, many immigrants have
been wary about coming out of the
shadows to start the process toward
getting documented, but things have
changed and more people feel com-
fortable making the move. Part of his
job is to motivate immigrants to take
that next step.
“I stay positive because it is import-
ant for me to encourage and try to get
people to come out and get this ball
rolling. Because it takes a while, but I
try to explain to them that it is worth
their while,” Gonzalez added.
Leonard’s case is an example of how
putting in the time and effort is worth
it in the end, and she said she would
encourage others like her not to give
up, and said it is never too late.
Now that the hardest part of her
journey is behind her, Leonard plans
to continue her education, first earning
her GED, and then eventually earning
a degree. She plans to pursue a career
in education and will soon work as a
teaching assistant in Redmond.
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Reporter: jsiess@bendbulletin.com, 541-617-
7820