Illinois woman’s journey to American citizenship secured

COLLINSVILLE, Ill.  – A resident in Collinsville is seeing results after being told he wasn’t a U.S. citizen.

Kira Ralston was adopted from Belize when she was six months old and brought to Collinsville by her parents. 42 years later, she had troubles getting a passport, realizing she wasn’t considered a U.S. citizen. She spent two years fighting immigration services and getting nowhere.

Ralston reached out to FOX 2, and we got in contact with Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin to aid in the battle. From there, the ball finally got rolling, and she was sworn in as a citizen last week.

“Sen. Durbin—he was wonderful. He stepped right in and took control of the situation, got my interview, passed my test, and the next thing you know, (I) got my letter for my oath ceremony,” Ralston said. “Going through this process, it makes you lose a piece of yourself. Now, I feel good, I did what I needed to do, ad as much as a hassle as it was…I couldn’t have done it without my family (and) their support.”

Sen. Durbin sent the following statement to FOX 2:

“Getting sworn in as a U.S. citizen is a momentous day in any immigrant’s life as they become part of our American story—just like my mother did. Congratulations to Kira, and I’m happy to have my office play a role in sorting out her complicated case.”

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