Sandpoint resident earns her U.S. citizenship

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A photo of Gilma Gonzalez from early March shows her smiling in the sunshine, waving an American flag and holding her U.S. citizenship certificate in front of Sandpoint’s miniature Lady Liberty at Sandpoint City Beach.

That photo, and everything it signifies, is about 15 years in the making, Gonzalez said.

On March 4, the Sandpoint resident took her citizenship test at the Thomas Foley Courthouse in Spokane and passed.

The statue Gonzalez is standing by also has significance. It was previously owned by Louise Barbara Turner and donated to the city in 2003 by her family after her death. Turner happens to be the grandmother of Tim Tucker, Gonzalez’s husband and a Sandpoint native.

Gonzalez and Turner met in 2008, not long after Gonzalez had moved to the United States. The two fell in love, and have now been together for 13 years. In 2018, they moved back to Sandpoint.

Now parents of an 8-year-old son named Tajan, the couple said Gonzalez earning her citizenship is part of the pursuit of a lifelong goal.

“To gain citizenship was kind of a dream to her,” Tucker said.

A certified nursing assistant and unit coordinator at Bonner General Health, Gonzalez moved to the United States from Guatemala around 2006 to find a better life for herself and her family, she said.

“It's a country that has provided me with opportunities that I was not able to have in my country,” she said. “As much as I will forever love my country where I was born, there are many things that I am not proud of. And I am not happy with the way they are being handled.”

Aside from allowing her to practice in the medical field, Gonzalez said moving to the United States helped her to improve her English skills and have the freedom to help others while also providing for herself.

Gonzalez has always had a heart for helping others, she said. For a time, she wanted to be a lawyer but didn’t have the money to continue law school. So instead, she became a CNA.

“I graduated [in Guatemala] with a bachelor’s degree. Many young people that reach that accomplishment in life, after graduation, there are no job options,” she said. “There is a lot of corruption.”

The process of obtaining citizenship was long and challenging, Tucker said. The couple had to work providing numerous documents and justification for obtaining citizenship.

They also had to work with a lawyer to make sure everything was done correctly, he said, which cost time, effort and money.

“[It’s] super challenging, one of the most challenging things I’ve ever been through and I wasn’t even the one doing it,” Tucker said. “It’s one of those things where you provide the documents and then those documents are sent off, [and you have to just wait].”

Obtaining citizenship, and not just a permanent residency, was important to Gonzalez because she wanted to be able to participate in election processes, she said.

“If I were to stay here with my permanent residency, I would not be able to vote,” she said. “To me, that's very important if I want to be here forever with my family.”

Her biggest piece of advice to others looking to obtain citizenship is to do research and hire a good lawyer, she said.

“I would say, because we are in a different country, just choose not to feel discouraged and that that they can accomplish what they put their minds to,” she said. “Just do the research work for it, and with work, they can accomplish anything.”

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