During my early adolescence, every day after school, I checked the mail and was disappointed when there was no letter from the “Department of Homeland Security”. I came to America with my family at the age of eight, and it took our family almost eight years to become naturalized as U.S. citizens. These years have been the most stressful times of my life. Day and night, my thoughts were consumed with uncertainty and fear that our family would not survive the path to citizenship. Since my father had no job and my mother suffered from a uterine disease, the path to obtaining citizenship was a “nightmare”. I remember my parents filling out numerous applications, such as “I-485” or “N-400,” writing checks that totaled nearly ten thousand dollars, paying expensive fees, and trying to remember countless facts about the United States government to obtain citizenship. test. Indeed, the citizenship process is expensive, downright stressful, unfair, and because it encourages illegal immigrants to maintain their illegal status, America should reform the citizenship process to make legalization more attainable. The United States has one of the highest immigration rates. Most immigrants who settle in America come from third world countries, which are characterized by “deep, abject poverty and cases of great wealth among their populations, but their overall economies are inferior to even those of a country in average income like Russia”. "(Alter 1). Because of the poor conditions in developing countries, many immigrants decide to come to America for job opportunities that are not present in their country of origin. When applicants apply for citizenship, the fee for citizenship application acts as a barrier on their path to... middle of paper... immigrants." The Daily Aztec. The Daily Aztec, April 26, 2011. Web. October 29, 2011. Foley, Elise "How Much Does It Cost to Become an American?" The Washington Independent National News in context. Washington Independent, September 9, 2010. Web. November 13, 2011 Jensen, Molly Thomas. “The high cost of citizenship”. Harvard Legal Document. Harvard Legal Brief, March 1, 2011. Network. November 1, 2011. Miller, John J. “What Should an American Know?: The New Naturalization: Stupid and Deleterious.” National Review, April 22, 2002. Gale Opposing Views in Context. Network. November 4, 2011.Nazir, Faisal. Personal interview. November 11th. 2011.Orgad, Liav. “Making New Americans: The Essence of Americanism Under the Test of Citizenship.” Houston law review. Article, March 2011. Web. 4 November 2011.Romano, Andrea. “How stupid are we?” The daily beast. The Daily Beast, March 20, 2011 Web. November 1. 2011.