I say one of our fellow citizens advisedly because that is exactly why the Congress has had to act in this extraordinary way. to pass a bill that confers a benefit directly on one individual. Here is what happened. Chong Ho Kwak. a Korean immigrant. came to our country legally. worked and supported his family. did all of the things necessary to become an American citizen. focused on becoming an American citizen because that was the light of his life. to finally gain the status that everyone in the world yearns to have. the status of being a bona fide American citizen. So he studied English. he studied the history of our country. he engaged in the special classes that are set for people who want to become citizens with all that that entails. and then. when the time came to take the test. nervous as he was. he went to the appointed place and presented himself for the purpose of undergoing the examinations that are necessary before one becomes a citizen. He passed them royally and was ecstatic. as was his family. He passed the exams and he was ready now to take the oath of citizenship for the greatest honor that would ever be bestowed on him in his own mind. and in those of us who recognize how important that is for a person eager to become an American citizen. Then. a tragic thing happened. About two months before the scheduled event for the naturalization ceremony in which he would take his oath. he. Mr. Kwak. while operating his small grocery store. was attacked and robbed. shot in the head. and rendered unconscious. of course. and was relegated to a hospital where he still lingers in a coma from which he has never been able to revive himself and which has engendered much sympathy and much newsprint. as it were. covering that tragic event and all of its consequences.
Keywords matched
naturalization immigrant