Naturalization Through Military Service
by U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Brenden Beezley January 25,
2023
McConnell Air Force Base’s own Airman Lissbeth Cardenas
Idrovo, 22nd Contracting Squadron contracting specialist, became a
U.S. citizen on January 20, 2023, during the first Kansas
naturalization ceremony of the year.
During the ceremony,
Cardenas and 162 other individuals from 46 countries, including
Albania, Cameroon, Ecuador, India, Ukraine and Vietnam, became
naturalized U.S. citizens.
 Airman Lissbeth Cardenas Idrovo, 22nd Contracting Squadron contracting specialist,
(front row right) performs the Oath of Allegiance at the Kansas Naturalization Ceremony
on January 20, 2023 in Wichita, Kansas. She is accompanied by her supervisor, Staff Sgt. Cassandria McAfee
(on her left). Airman Idrovo was one of two McConnell Air
Force Base airmen to become a U.S. Citizen that day.
The other one was Airman Michelle Ashley in her blue service dress uniform,
who is on SSgt. McAfee's left. Airman Ashley is a full-time member of the Kansas Air National Guard's 184th Comptroller Flight at McConnell AFB.
A total of 163 people from 46 countries became U.S. citizens
during the ceremony. (Image created by USA Patriotism! from U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Brenden Beezley.)
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Cardenas grew up in Azogues,
Ecuador, with her mother and two younger sisters. She lived there
for 18 years before deciding she would move to the U.S. to live with
her father who was living already in New York City.
The path
to citizenship can look different from person to person. The two
most common paths are being a lawful permanent resident for five
years and being married to a U.S. citizen for 3 years while living
in the U.S. for 18 months.
For Cardenas, her path was
different from those two standard routes. Instead, her path to
citizenship included military service. According to U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services, if you serve in the U.S. Military for one
year and are a lawful permanent resident, you are eligible for
citizenship.
While Cardenas became a citizen through her
military service, that was not why she chose to join; she was
inspired to join the military after hearing about her friend’s
experiences in the Navy.
“Even before coming here [to the
U.S.], when I was just looking into what it was all about, I knew
someone who was in the Navy,” said Cardenas. “So after talking with
them about the military and the Navy, and at that point I thought to
myself, maybe I will join the military.”
Initially, Cardenas
applied to the Navy while she was still living in Ecuador. Her
friend’s stories had motivated her to enlist in the Navy, but the
Navy would not give her a contract unless she entered as an open
contract, which she did not want to do.
As time went by,
Cardenas moved to live with her father and still maintained
aspirations of joining the military. After speaking with an Air
Force recruiter, Cardenas was offered multiple jobs within the Air
Force and decided to move forward with her plans to enlist. She was
in the Delayed Entry Program for 10 months before receiving her job
in Contracting.
“The Air Force means a lot to me, I am the
first one in my family to join, but maybe later it will be my sister
or kids,” said Cardenas. “Joining is a thank you for letting me be
here in the United States, and thank you for letting me have the
life I wanted, the life I was dreaming of.”
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