In the past year, at least four citizens from Petersburg and Wrangell have sought and gained their U.S. citizenship to be with their families and for peace of mind.
Elisa Teodori originates from Italy, but moved to Petersburg after she met her husband, Tor Benson, while working in Ecuador. Laura Davies first came to the US from Canada to work as a recreation therapist in Georgia, but eventually moved to Wrangell to take a job working with Alaska Crossings and met her husband. Gilda Barkfelt first arrived in Petersburg from the Philippines in 2005 and has been in Alaska ever since to be with the family that she started. For several summers in a row, Ola Richards was flying back and forth from Poland to Petersburg to work at Petersburg Fisheries, but stayed in Petersburg after she married a local.
According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, Alaska has seen an increasing number of residents gaining their U.S. citizenship. In the 2015 fiscal year, 964 applications were approved, but that number increased to 972 in 2016. In 2017, 1,011 Alaskan residents became U.S. citizens. The number of new U.S. citizens in Alaska jumped to 1,385 in 2018. Data for the 2019 fiscal year is not yet available.
Teodori had just graduated with a degree in marine biology in Italy and took a job researching sea turtles in Ecuador. While she was in the South American country, she met Benson and visited him in Petersburg in 2012 for the first time. After a few more visits, the two were married in 2014, and Teodori remained in Petersburg.
"I came here for love," she said.
She currently works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game full-time nine months out of the year. The remaining three months the two spend visiting family in Italy, Washington and other parts of Alaska.
Teodori began the process to gain her U.S. citizenship in February 2019 and a few months later in May, she was a U.S. citizen. She said she wanted the peace of mind that comes with being a U.S. citizen, instead of having a Green Card.
"Also, you never know, with the policies of today with immigrants, you always are in a little bit of fear," said Teodori.
She said she also doesn't have to worry about renewing her Green Card and can vote and participate in local elections.
In 2001, Davies graduated from the University of Waterloo in Ontario with a degree in recreation and leisure with a focus on business. Since there was a shortage of recreation therapists in the U.S. at the time, as a Canadian, she was able to work in Georgia through a program that helped foreigners attain work in fields that were under staffed. Davies had a friend who moved to Wrangell and she eventually followed suit and began working for the Alaska Crossings as a guide, which is a wilderness treatment program for kids throughout Alaska. Her boss at time, Stephen Prysunka, was also a Canadian citizen and encouraged her to seek her U.S. Citizenship. Prysunka, who is currently Wrangell's mayor, declined to speak to the Pilot due to his busy schedule.
She soon met her husband, Winston Davies, and the two married in 2004. The couple have raised a family together and Laura said the main reason she wanted her U.S. citizenship was to have the same citizenship as her family.
"My children are American and so is my husband," said Laura. "I wanted to be the same citizenship as my family. That was one of the most motivating things."
She was also worried that the process to become a citizen might become more challenging and drawn out. She applied for her U.S. citizenship in June 2018 and became a U.S. citizen in September.
Laura teaches fifth grade at Wrangell's Evergreen Elementary School and speaks to her students about U.S. history and politics, but could never vote. Though she was in the country legally and had all the same rights as U.S. citizens, she couldn't vote and she wanted to exercise that right, especially at the local level.
Barkfelt is originally from the Pangasinan Province in the Philippines. She was born in Alcala, but was living in Villasis before she moved to Petersburg in 2005. About a year later, she married her husband William Barkfelt and the two had their first daughter Kristina Barkfelt in 2007. Gilda said she does miss her big family back in the Philippines, but she has fallen in love with Petersburg and doesn't plan on living anywhere else. She enjoys the quiet atmosphere and the ability to walk everywhere she needs to go.
Gilda said the application process to gain her U.S. citizenship was quicker than she thought. She began the application process around March 2019 and on May 28, she was in Anchorage receiving her citizenship. The main reason Gilda wanted to become a U.S. citizen was to be with her family in Petersburg.
"For the future of our family," said Gilda.
While studying for her master's degree in engineering landscape in Poland, Richards would fly to Petersburg during the summer to work at Petersburg Fisheries to make some extra money and to go on an adventure. Her first summer in Petersburg was in 2007 and for the next four years, she would keep returning to work at the cannery. In 2009, she began dating her future husband, Brian Richards. When it came time for Ola to go back to Poland at the end of the
summer, the two were devastated at being separated. Brian went to visit Ola in Poland in March of 2010 for a few months and that summer, Ola returned to Petersburg, but never left.
"I love my country, but I guess I love my husband more," said Ola.
The two soon got married and she became a permanent resident. In the following years, the hassle of renewing her Green Card and not being able have her voice be heard in the community she had made her home, eventually got her thinking about becoming a U.S. citizen. Like Laura Davies and Teodori, Ola enjoyed all the rights and freedoms of a U.S. citizen, and even paid taxes, but she could not vote.
"I live in this country," said Ola. "I care about this country, town and state, but I wasn't able to speak up."
She applied for her U.S. citizenship in Jan. 2019 and became a U.S. citizen on May 28, the same day as Gilda. Ola plans on voting in the local, state and national elections this fall and to continue working for the Petersburg Pilot and Wrangell Sentinel.
Reader Comments(0)