Julie is a single mother, who was brought to America by her father when she was eight years old. She married young and worked to make her life better. She had two little girls, then found herself a divorced, single mom who wanted a better life for her children. She is their sole support as the lead manicurist for Saigon Nails in Green Valley and is buying her first home. She has not taken aid and proudly is head of her household.
Last year, Julie mentioned to LD 30 Republican Chairman Patti O'Berry that she was longing to be an American citizen. She knew that Patti was a Republican, as they had many political discussions. Julie had been waiting a very long time and was getting anxious and worried about the length of time involved in the citizenship process. Patti offered to call and write Senator Kyl on her behalf. She did so and his staff responded. They did what they could, but as the months continued to go by, it still did not seem like Julie was any closer to fulfilling her dream.
One day, when Julie was doing Patti's nails, they were discussing the Immigration Bill. Julie expressed her fears that "all the citizenships would be given away to illegals", before she could get hers. Patti assured her that would not happen and that she would again contact Senator Kyl on Julie's behalf. Patti made the call to Senator Kyl in early May, with wonderful results in June.
In the middle of June, Julie was notified that she would be taking the oath of citizenship on June 29th at 1p.m. Julie invited Patti to attend. Patti had become, what Julie dubbed, her "American Mom." To make the event even sweeter, Julie's mother Ni arrived in Tucson for a two month visit with her daughter. Ni did not know until she arrived that she would witness her daughter become a United States citizen.
Following her oath of allegiance and the signing of her citizenship papers, Julie's first act as an American, was to register to vote, yes, as a Republican....
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Pictured above from left to right: LD 30 GOP Chair Patti O'Berry, Mimi, Julie, Daisy, and Ni
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