My artifact is my Chinese passport which carried  my information through the 16 years of my life.  It was taken away from me for a reason I felt it was the safest option considering our government from today. The red, tiny book, which was almost the size of my palm, was filled with stamps of my travels back and forth from China to the United States. The five golden stars and the building called “The Forbidden City” in Beijing represent where I was from and how my life began there.  Moving to the U.S. at the age of six, using the passport, I noticed that people in this foreign country have different colors of passport, most of them being blue. I learned that those colors hold a deeper meaning to it rather than if it was about religion or how their country is viewed. I realized that my passport is something that shows who I am.        Recently my Chinese passport was taken away from me after 16 years because I became a US citizen. China does not allow dual citizenship. The decision of choosing something that does not represent me at all felt challenging. However, considering the laws today, changing citizenship and passport felt like the safest option. This country has created laws that have taken many immigrants’ identity and representation away for centuries. At the end of the day, changing from a Chinese citizen to an United States citizen changed my identity as well. 

– YC

Relationship:  Im/migrant who arrived as a child Im/migrant who arrived as a child