PHOTOS: Celebrating Sidetrack bartender Klider – now a U.S. citizen
Wed. February 15, 2017 10:33 AM by Ross Forman
photo credit // sidetrack
Chicago, IL -
It was an exciting and emotional Tuesday (Feb. 8) for Klider Hakim, when he became a U.S. citizen – a moment he feared might never happen.
After all, Hakim, now 30, started the process of becoming a U.S. citizen 10 years ago. But he was denied then. He applied again at age 27, and again was denied.
For his third shot, Hakim got help from Sidetrack co-owners Art Johnston and Pepe Pena, and a lawyer was hired. It worked.
A contingent from Sidetrack was alongside Hakim when he took the oath as a U.S. citizen. Later that night, Sidetrack thew a party, naturally, in his honor: Party in the USA with AmeriKleed.
More about Klider Hakim:
Klider was born in Baghdad, Iraq, moved to the U.S. on March 3, 1995, and is openly gay, which of course is taboo in Iraq.
He hasn't been back to Iraq since he was 6, but still has memories of that country:
"Waking up in the morning to my mother getting my siblings ready for school, helping my dad water the garden, playing hide-and-seek in the dark because during the war we did not have electricity, and getting my first stitches trying to find a missile that was dropped by our home," he said. "Looking at how the media presents Iraq is so different from what I remember. It was like living in a city. We had buses and cabs, maybe fewer restaurants."
A few from his father's side of his family still live in Iraq. Most of his mother's side of the family live here in the U.S.
One day he'd like to return to Iraq – to visit his dad's grave.
Hakim attended school in Michigan – middle-school, high school and college.
Original feature article by Ross Forman - Photos courtesy Sidetrack
After all, Hakim, now 30, started the process of becoming a U.S. citizen 10 years ago. But he was denied then. He applied again at age 27, and again was denied.
For his third shot, Hakim got help from Sidetrack co-owners Art Johnston and Pepe Pena, and a lawyer was hired. It worked.
A contingent from Sidetrack was alongside Hakim when he took the oath as a U.S. citizen. Later that night, Sidetrack thew a party, naturally, in his honor: Party in the USA with AmeriKleed.
More about Klider Hakim:
Klider was born in Baghdad, Iraq, moved to the U.S. on March 3, 1995, and is openly gay, which of course is taboo in Iraq.
He hasn't been back to Iraq since he was 6, but still has memories of that country:
"Waking up in the morning to my mother getting my siblings ready for school, helping my dad water the garden, playing hide-and-seek in the dark because during the war we did not have electricity, and getting my first stitches trying to find a missile that was dropped by our home," he said. "Looking at how the media presents Iraq is so different from what I remember. It was like living in a city. We had buses and cabs, maybe fewer restaurants."
A few from his father's side of his family still live in Iraq. Most of his mother's side of the family live here in the U.S.
One day he'd like to return to Iraq – to visit his dad's grave.
Hakim attended school in Michigan – middle-school, high school and college.
Original feature article by Ross Forman - Photos courtesy Sidetrack