Juan Villa / The Collegian

When asked how long it took for her to become a citizen, Ofelia Gamez opened her desk drawer and pulled out a calculator.

After a few minutes of trying to determine when, she finally settled on an answer.

“Too long, it just took too long,â€Â Gamez said.

Gamez is the director of the Fresno State College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), and just recently became a citizen after years of being tossed around by the process.

She had tried twice, even wrote a letter explaining her frustration, but wasn̢۪t able to become a citizen until this January. She said she wanted to be a citizen so she could vote.

“I was eager to have a voice and to do my civic duty,â€Â Gamez said.

Gamez is not the only one; this year there was a surge of immigrants applying for United States citizenship.

The dream of voting in the upcoming presidential election –– along with a scheduled increase in fees –– motivated 1.4 million people across the country to apply after June 1 last year to become naturalized U.S. citizens –– double the previous year’s number, according to the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

This huge jump in applications has delayed the already long and arduous process from about seven months to 18 months. Many immigrants are now concerned if they will be eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, according to the bureau.

Coordinator of University Migrant Services Raul Moreno offers some possible motivations for why this sudden increase of applications and why immigrants – especially the Hispanic community –– are so interested in voting in this upcoming election.

“The number one reason I believe is to change the anti-immigrant sentiment and to change the naturalization process,â€Â Moreno said.

Moreno said most of the Hispanic community gets discriminated against and often labeled as undocumented or illegal aliens. He also said it has become increasingly harder for Hispanics to go back and forth over the border to visit family and work.

“With the advent of the homeland security and patriot acts, it has become very difficult for those who are not citizens to move around the country,â€Â Moreno said.

Matias Bernal, president of the student organization Chicanos in Law, said students are eager for a change and that̢۪s why they want to vote.

“Many students see the system as flawed and are hoping this election will bring some immigration reform,â€Â Bernal said.

Gamez believes a major motivation for immigrants trying to be eligible to vote is the steady increase of cost to be naturalized.

The first time she attempted the process, it cost her $200 dollars. When she had to apply again later, it rose to $400 dollars. She has heard from friends going through the process right now that it costs $600 dollars.

“It’s things like this [the cost] that frustrate and drive immigrants away from trying to go through the naturalization process,â€Â Gamez said, but added that there is one positive thing that the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) is doing right. She said that because of this recent backlog, they are now swearing in immigrants everyday as long as they do not have a name change.

Even though the process of becoming a citizen may seem long and difficult, Gamez said that everyone that is not a citizen should do it, so they can exercise their right to vote.

“So many people complain about things, but really have no right to because they don’t vote,â€Â Gamez said. “Voting is so crucial and so many take that right for granted, I was so happy when I became a citizen, so I could vote.â€Â