On Friday, in the first-floor jury room in the downtown federal courthouse, 46 immigrants from 14 countries became American citizens. Mursal Abukar Ali of Somalia was one of them.
After taking his citizenship oath in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Marshall, the 25-year-old Ali took to the podium, congratulated his fellow new Americans and their families, and said this day was one of three memorable days in their lives.
The day they were born and the day they arrived in this county were the two other days.
But come Aug. 24, Ali, a political refugee who arrived in Tucson in April 2004, will add a fourth day to his growing list of all-too-important days. On that Monday he will walk onto the University of Arizona campus as a student — likely the first Somali Bantu in Tucson to do so.
For Ali and the small community of about 800 Bantu refugees, his enrollment at the UA is a monumental step.
"I am giving an example to other Bantu, not only here in Tucson, but across the United States," Ali said several days before his naturalization ceremony. "That's a huge responsibility," he added.
Ali, who is married and the father of two American-born children, is intent on the trailblazer role. He understands the difficulties he and his fellow Bantu have had and will continue to face as they adjust to new ways of life.
But it all starts with education, Ali said.
"We are in need of educated people," he said of his fellow Bantus.
Ali left Somalia when he was 5 years old. The 1991 civil war and pogrom against the Bantu, who are not a Somali ethnic group, sent thousands streaming on foot into refugee camps in neighboring Kenya. While the camps were miserable and overrun by armed militias, Ali was able to attend school, becoming the first in his family to read and write.
Ali graduated from secondary school when he was 18 years old. Two years later he, his parents and six siblings were in Tucson, thanks to a U.S. effort to resettle to this country Bantu refugees who continued to face repression in the camps.
All this gave Ali a clear and different view of his exodus.
"If I were in Somalia, I would not have had an education. Opportunities were not open," he said.
Opportunities are now open to him and he intends on taking them.
Ali found a job with the Somali Bantu Association of Tucson, a nonprofit organization that helps Bantu refugees meld into everyday life. His English-language skills made him invaluable.
"He has spent a great deal of time listening to people and helping them," said Mette Broyden of the Bantu Association, during Friday's citizenship ceremony. "We are lucky to have him as a U.S. citizen."
Ali graduated from Pima Community College in May with an associate degree in liberal arts.
"There are other Bantu at Pima and I expect them to join me at the university," Ali said.
He plans to major in international studies at the UA. He speaks three languages and favors geography and history.
With a university degree, Ali believes he could work in government, the private sector or for a nonprofit, with a goal of continuing to help not only Bantu but other refugees and immigrants.
He's helped enough Bantu with their immigration documents, Ali could become an immigration lawyer.
Ali is keenly aware that as an immigrant, he and his family and other Bantu will face experiences that previous immigrants have encountered. He already has seen cultural changes and clashes within the Bantu community.
Children are quickly adapting themselves to American culture and dress, which upsets their traditional parents, and women realize they have more freedom here, he cited as examples.
Ali, who is married to a Somali woman who is not Bantu, understands there will be cultural challenges.
But the greatest challenge — and opportunity — lies in education, he said.
"That's the key to success everywhere," he said.
Reporter Ernesto "Neto" Portillo Jr. has deep roots here. His maternal grandparents came to Tucson in 1931. His maternal great-great-grandfather, Argentine-born Onofre Navarro, lived in Tucson beginning in the 1860s.
Portillo can be contacted at 807-8414 or eportillo@azstarnet.com
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