- When do we vote for the president? - Every four years. - What date? - September or October? - November. - Okay.
- Okay. - I knew it was close. - Imma say that you're a U.S. Citizen. - My name is Ian Perganen, and
I am an immigration lawyer. - A little bit, I feel like
as an immigration lawyer I should have a good
feel of who's a citizen, and who's not, since I
deal with it all the time. - So I think I'm gonna
go with asking questions that I think a U.S. citizen
or an American should know. Maybe some questions that
you know, if you've been through the process you'd
probably be aware about. - Hi I'm Ian
- Nice to meet you - What's your name?
- Mary. - Do you speak any other languages? - I speak French and I speak Amharic. - [Ian] What country
is that language from? - Which one?
- [Ian] The second one. - Amharic?
- [Ian] Yeah. - It's from Ethiopia. - Ethiopia, why don't we try a question that's from the Civics test? If the President of the United States and the Vice President can no longer serve who becomes president? - The Congress Leader. - I'm gonna say you're a U.S. Citizen. - Why? - I'm gonna guess maybe
you were born in Ethiopia. Came as refugees, you
probably got your green card and then your parents naturalized and you became a citizen through them. If you're still a citizen of Ethiopia they have no government right now. So you can't even get
an Ethiopian passport. - So that's why I'm gonna
- Interesting. guess that you are a U.S. citizen. Hi I'm Ian
- Hi there Caelum
- Caelum, nice to meet you. - How you doing?
- Good, good, I hear a little bit of an accent. - Oh really? (all laughing) - But hey, hey, you know
people could have accents and still be American citizens. When somebody becomes a U.S. citizen, they naturalize.
- Yeah. - There's a oath of allegiance
that they have to take. - Yes. - So imma ask you a question real quick. - Okay. - If the law requires it
would you be willing to bear arms on behalf of the United States? - Definitely not. (all laughing)
- Definitely not, okay. Imma say he's not a citizen. Cool, hey thanks a lot man.
- Okay. (both laughing) - So what do you do Kendra? are you working, are you in school? - Yeah I'm a educational,
bilingual educational assistant at a non-profit. - Growing up was Spanish the
first language that you spoke? - Yes.
- Who's here from your family? - My mom, my dad, my sister,
some aunts and uncles. - What is the supreme rule of the land? - Constitution. - Constitute- Imma say
she's a U.S. citizen. That question, if maybe
you've taken the test, the civics test, that's one
of the questions on there. - Okay.
- So, that's what imma guess. What do you do for work? - I am an Engineer. - Have you ever been convicted of a crime? - No. - Never in your life? - No, not the kind of work I
do, I can not be convicted. - Okay, how many amendments
of the constitution are there? - I think there's ten,
I think, I'm not sure. - So actually its 27. - Oh, okay. - Yeah (laughing) You're not a citizen, you
were probably born in Cambodia or you came to the U.S.
when you were really young, but you got your green card, probably eligible for citizenship but you just never applied. 'Cuz I think you haven't
taken the test yet. - Oh.
- That's gonna be my guess. Hi Ian. - Jocelene. - Are you in school, do you work? - Well I just moved here from Florida. - From Florida, okay.
- Yes. (Speaking in foreign language) (Speaking in foreign language) - Let me ask you maybe
something from the civics test. Who is the current supreme
court chief justice. - Does anybody know? - (laughs) I wanna say you're a citizen. Don't be embarrassed because
(Jocelene laughing nervously) you know you'll be surprised a lot of natural born citizens really
don't know the answer. - Yeah. - Hi.
- Hi I'm Ian. - Nice to meet you, my names Maria. - So what do you do for work? - I'm a student and I'm
also a sales associate. - Is your family here? - Yeah, like immediate family
- Okay. - Like mom, dad, sister. - How bout your extended family? Your other relatives where are they? - Mexico and Guatemala. - Have you ever been to Guatemala? - No.
- You haven't. - I really wanna go.
- Okay. - So what do you think? - I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna go with you're not a citizen. But I'm gonna guess you have DACA and you're going to school. You were probably born in Mexico, but you came here when you were a baby. - Like what gives off the DACA vibe in me? Just like I'm a student?
- Um, yeah, yeah, yeah. - That's basically it?
- Yeah pretty much. You probably are here to
throw me off in space. (all laughing) So that's why I'm just
gonna guess at that. Do you speak any other languages? - I speak in Thai. - Thai, as in from Thailand, right? - Yes. - Do you know who the governor
of Washington is right now? - I don't. - Do you know who your congressman is? - No.
- No, okay, okay. Imma guess that you're not a citizen. Imma guess that you're here on a visa and I don't think you've taken
the citizenship test yet. That's just my guess. What do you do, are you uh school, work? - I work at a manufacturing plant. - Do you like to travel at all? - I mean I do, I haven't really got to. - Okay, okay.
- Just not too wealthy but - If you could travel, where
would you like to go to? - Ireland. - [Ian] Do you have family
here in the states then? - Yeah. - [Ian] Is every, all of
your family members here? - Dad, mom. - So would you mind if I asked you like a history question or uh - Yeah you can.
- Okay, okay. Or a civics question? How long is a term for U.S. senator? - Eight years I think? - How bout for U.S. congressman? - I wanna say that one
might be eight years. - That's two.
- Really? - Yeah, when do we vote for the President? - Every four years (laughs). - What date? - September, October? - November.
- Okay. - Okay, okay, (laughs)
- I knew I was close. - Imma say that you're a U.S. Citizen. Oh wow. Wow, wow, (all laughing)
wow, That's pretty amazing. I got most of you guys wrong. - [Mary] Me. - I'm sorry. - [Mary] It's okay. - And what was your name again? - You got me wrong, I'm not a citizen. - You're not a citizen, so you
were born in Ethiopia right? - I was born in Ethiopia,
I'm not a refugee. I came with the diversity Visa. - [Ian] The DV Lotto. - I've been here for ten
years, but I'm not a citizen. - Totally forgot about
the diversity lottery. - Yeah. - I'm sorry (both laughing) Hi again
- Hey (laughing) - Hi again
- Hi - So you are a citizen - I am
- I got that wrong - Yeah I was born in the U.K.
- In the U.K. - to a American mother. English father.
- Got it. - You have dual citizenship.
- Yes. - Nice.
- I do. - So then how long ago did
you come to the states then? - Two, just over two years ago now. - Good to see ya man.
- Thanks. - Oh man, did I get you right? - Yeah.
- [Ian] I said you were a citizen, right?
- Yeah, U.S. citizen. - Okay, whew, now were
you born here though? - Yes. - Now are you the only
citizen in your family? - Yup.
- Wow. But you're family is originally from - From Mexico and Guatemala
- From Mexico and Guatemala that's right
- And that's my sister - That is your sister okay.
- Yeah Maria is my sister. - [Ian] Wow I did not even
put the two of you together - Yeah
- Don't worry about it - Well I guess since
you have a sister then who isn't a citizen then given
the current climate and stuff how does that make you feel about the future for you and your family? - Scared you know, 'cuz I
don't know what's gonna happen but the same time it
makes you wanna fight more be resistant.
- Sure. Alright. - Yup, you got it wrong
- And I got it wrong. You are a citizen. - Yes I am, came here
when I was 11 years old - [Ian] Right
- and my mom - [Ian] Became a citizen?
- became a citizen. She took all the tests in
able to gain green card and all that
- [Ian] And you derived the right from her. - 'cuz I was under age at the time. - [Ian] You were under age. Got it so you didn't even
have to take the test. Did you guys come as refugees though? - [Cambodian Man] Yes we came as refugees. - And what was your family fleeing from and why did they leave Cambodia? - I was born in the war
called the Khmer Rouge, I escaped from Cambodia - Yeah - We ran and escaped to Thailand during that time my father
was murdered in Khmer Rouge. - [Ian] Oh gosh, so sorry.
- Yeah its a typical Cambodian story, where
half the population died of starvation, or death, or murder and it took us about three years before we go accepted by the U.S. moved, transferred to Seattle. - So Seattle was the first destination. - Very first one, yes. - Very cool. Okay, so did I get, I got you wrong? - No you got me wrong. - I got you wrong, what is you status? - Imma DACA recipient. - You are DACA, basically was a program that was originally started by, under the Obama administration. - Yes. - It stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
- Childhood Arrivals. - Its not technically legal status, its just a decision by
the government to not - Yeah.
- deport you, right? So its always something that
can be taken away as well. Can't travel on it either. And the program could
be stopped at anytime. In fact, the Trump
administration has already - tried to stop it.
- Yeah. - Awesome well, I completely (laughs) muffed that one up so thank
you for enlightening me. Sister! - Yeah. - Thank you, so I got you right. - Yeah, spot on I came here when I was three.
- Spot on. How long have you had DACA. - Just like three or two years. - Can I ask how old were
you when first came here? - I was three years old,
she's actually older than me, - [Ian] Got it.
- She was born here and then when I was in my moms belly I had to go back to Mexico
'cuz my grandma was sick. - [Ian] I see. - So it was just misfortunate
events that happened. - Yeah so basically the
two of you are separated in terms of legal status, miles apart. And its simply because
of a decision of where to have you born
- I was born yeah. - Hello. - Oh no I got you wrong. - Yes.
- I got you so wrong. - I got my green card
first, followed by my mom. - Okay. - And then I become citizen
after that five years. - So you actually did take the test. - I did. (laughing) - Wait so did any of the
questions that I asked you that wasn't on the test?
- Well I guess its time to update it. (all laughing) - I got you right, right? - Yeah.
- Okay. - I'm not a very exciting person so - No, no, no, you know you're
born here in the United States do you see the U.S. as
a nation of immigrants. - Oh yeah, if you go back to your roots you know you're an immigrant
too so you can't really judge other immigrants on how they
got here or why they're here. - Awesome, thank you, thank you so much. - Thank you. - Well I think citizenship is a privilege. You can vote, you can
petition family members, obviously you can't be deported. Know you have an
allegiance to this country, to just support the constitution
and what it stands for. And its just to have
a civic responsibility to this country. - [Director] All right thanks guys. (all clapping) - Thank you guys. - [Director] You guys can
go walk off and sit down, sorry you guys have been
standing for a long time.
