Editing Openai/68a8de07-0b14-800b-bc4e-85615c0f9609 (section)

===== Polished & Broken Up Draft =====

I took the plunge and entered the ICE/USCIS field office in downtown Chicago today and—wow.

I had an amazing experience. 😮 🙌

Now, to be clear: I didn’t interact directly with ICE or head up to their fourth-floor offices. I’ll do that once I’m connected with a client who has business there. But everything I encountered on the first three floors left me impressed.

By the time I walked out, I had made friends with multiple staff members. The security supervisor on the third floor—which houses both a courtroom and citizenship interviews—actually thanked me for showing up. His words stuck with me: “The only way people will know what’s really happening here is if people show up and observe.”

He even introduced me to USCIS staff, who welcomed my questions and proudly described their work expediting citizenship applications for service members at the nearby Great Lakes Naval Station.

It was deeply encouraging to see, here in a city with nearly a million residents of Central and South American descent, care, kindness, and professionalism on display. To see happy faces leaving with the news they had passed their citizenship test.