{"id":41910,"date":"2015-07-02T08:01:07","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T12:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/?p=41910"},"modified":"2015-07-01T21:52:10","modified_gmt":"2015-07-02T01:52:10","slug":"orgulloso-de-ser-un-ciudadano-americano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/orgulloso-de-ser-un-ciudadano-americano\/","title":{"rendered":"What It Means to Be an American Citizen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><html><br \/>\n  <head><br \/>\n    <META http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/META><\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\nspan.prnews_span\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\na.prnews_a\n{\ncolor:blue;\n}\nli.prnews_li\n{\nfont-size:8pt;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\n}\np.prnews_p\n{\nfont-size:0.62em;\nfont-family:\"Arial\";\ncolor:black;\nmargin:0in;\n}<\/p>\n<p>BODY {\nFONT-SIZE: 0.83em; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: \"Arial\"\n}\nA {\nCOLOR: blue\n}\n#divWide\n{\nmargin:0;\nmargin-top:1.33em;\n}\nLI {\nFONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: \"Arial\"\n}\n<\/style>\n<p><\/head><br \/>\n  <body topmargin=\"0\" leftmargin=\"0\"><br \/>\n    <\/p>\n<div id=\"divHeadline\" style=\"width:800px;margin-left:10pt\">\n      <!-- #Begin headline --><\/p>\n<p style=\"TEXT-ALIGN: center\">\n        <b>What It Means to Be an American Citizen<\/b>\n      <\/p>\n<p>\n        <i>By Julio C. Urdaneta*<\/i>\n      <\/p>\n<p>      <!-- #End headline -->\n    <\/div>\n<div id=\"divBody\" style=\"width:800px;margin-left:10pt\">\n      <!-- #Begin release --><br \/>\n<!-- #Begin Wide Release --><\/p>\n<div id=\"divWide\">\n<p>WASHINGTON, July 2, 2015 \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0There will be a barbecue with friends, fireworks, and a day off from work. But for me, this <a href=\"http:\/\/usa.gov\/history#item-36822\" target=\"_blank\">Independence Day<\/a> will be far different from the ones I have celebrated since I moved to the United States 13 years ago. <\/p>\n<div id=\"dvprnejpgd611left\" style=\"TEXT-ALIGN: left; WIDTH: 100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"prnejpgd611left\" title=\"USA.gov logo\" border=\"0\" alt=\"USA.gov logo\" align=\"middle\" src=\"http:\/\/photos.prnewswire.com\/prnvar\/20141030\/155567LOGO\"><\/img><\/div>\n<p>Logo &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/photos.prnewswire.com\/prnh\/20141030\/155567LOGO\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/photos.prnewswire.com\/prnh\/20141030\/155567LOGO<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>It will be the first one I celebrate after becoming an American citizen. And I couldn&#8217;t be more proud. <\/p>\n<p>As a young, idealistic journalist, I came to the United States from Latin America eager to find a new vision of the world, a new canvas where I could practice my craft. And I found much more than that: I found a vast nation with millions of people with interesting lives: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.va.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">Heroes<\/a>, mavericks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/category\/navigation-structure\/starting-managing-business\/starting-business\" target=\"_blank\">entrepreneurs<\/a>, eccentrics, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/humanitarian\/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-daca\" target=\"_blank\">dreamers<\/a>, believers \u2013 all of them full of stories waiting to be told and shared with the world. <\/p>\n<p>I was challenged, taunted, to get out my comfort zone and understand this new world that now I call home. The energy this country radiates forced me to grow, to question myself and to let go of many misconceptions and beliefs that shaped my life up to that point. I was born again here. <\/p>\n<p>It takes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/lecl\/learn\/historyculture\/sacagawea.htm\" target=\"_blank\">brave men and women<\/a> to envision and create a nation and make it prosper, just like our forefathers did. And as a testament of its strong foundation, one of the greatest things about the United States is that it continues to evolve, to grow, to discover itself. It is never static \u2013 it embraces the new, the bold, and the unique.<\/p>\n<p>And we, Americans, old and new, reap the benefits of it. Here, we are free to thrive. We have the freedom to be who we are, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/audience\/forstudents\/k-4\/stories\/who-was-sally-ride-k4.html#.VYwYHflViko\" target=\"_blank\">to expand ourselves to the infinite<\/a>. The world is at our fingertips: We live and learn in one of the most diverse countries of the planet, where all cultures, faiths, and schools of thoughts coexist. We share strong values, an extraordinary work ethic, and a commitment to innovation. <\/p>\n<p>The journey has not always been smooth. It has had its dark moments. Yet, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nps.gov\/nr\/travel\/civilrights\/al4.htm\" target=\"_blank\">hope for a better future never dies<\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.serve.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">Solidarity<\/a>\u00a0is an intrinsic American value, as are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/blog\/2014\/05\/22\/harvey-milk-forever-stamp-dedicated\" target=\"_blank\">inclusion and\u00a0acceptance<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For all of this I thank you, America. And for showing the world, for showing me, the real me. I am proud to be called your son, and here I am to honor you. <\/p>\n<p>So, what is your story? What does it mean to you to be an American? Feel free to share it with USA.gov on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/USAgov\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/usagov\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/+usagov\/posts\" target=\"_blank\">Google+<\/a>, using the hashtag #MyUSA. <\/p>\n<p><i>* Julio writes for <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/usa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\"><i>USA.gov<\/i><\/a><i> and <\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/gobierno.usa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\"><i>GobiernoUSA.gov<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><i>To learn more about this and other topics, see<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usa.gov\/Citizen\/Topics\/Travel.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usa.gov\/Citizen\/Topics\/Travel.shtml\" target=\"_blank\"><i>USA.gov<\/i><\/a><i> and<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usa.gov\/gobiernousa\/Temas\/Viajes.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/gobierno.usa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\"><i>GobiernoUSA.gov<\/i><\/a><i>, the U.S. Government&#8217;s official websites in English and Spanish, and part of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- #End Wide Release --><\/p>\n<div id=\"divMediaContact\">  <\/div>\n<p><!-- #End release --><\/div>\n<p>\n  <\/body><br \/>\n<\/html> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What It Means to Be an American Citizen By Julio C. Urdaneta* WASHINGTON, July 2, 2015 \/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE\/ &#8212;\u00a0There will be a barbecue with friends, fireworks, and a day off from work. But for me, this Independence Day will be far different from the ones I have celebrated since I moved to the United [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inmigracion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hispanicprwire.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}