COMMON GROUND: AMY’S NAILS

Amy (Xuan) Tran, owner of Amy’s Nails.

When I walked into her nail salon in Winterset last Friday, Amy (Xuan) Tran gave me a big hug, tears running down her cheeks. I hadn’t seen her for 18 years, not since the day I attended her citizenship ceremony at the Des Moines Federal Courthouse in 2007. We had a lot to catch up on, and we spent the afternoon doing just that. Amy treated my friend Deb and me to manicures all the while bringing me up to date on her husband, Bao, her four daughters and her two grandsons.

I want you to know her, because her story is an American story, one many immigrants could tell, who have studied and passed the citizenship test. They give back to our country every day by going to work, paying taxes, serving in our military and assuring that their children and grandchildren get a good education. They take care of their elderly parents, occasionally returning to their countries of origin to reunite with and help family and friends they left behind.

Today Americans are very focused, as we should be, on the civil rights and the human rights of documented and undocumented immigrants, and on foreign students and faculty at our colleges and universities. While we sort out the legalities and illegalities of our immigration system, could we also acknowledge the contributions of our naturalized citizens? How frightening it must be for immigrants who have earned American citizenship and who regularly vote, to hear the word immigrant spoken often as if all immigrants are despicable because they weren’t lucky enough to have been born here.

TRY TAKING THE CITIZENSHIP TEST TO SEE IF YOU CAN PASS IT

The US Center for Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the Department for Homeland Security, reports that the U.S. welcomed 818,500 new citizens in fiscal year 2024. There are 24.5 million naturalized citizens living in the U.S. today. You can find information about naturalization here.

Amy’s father immigrated to Iowa from Vietnam in 1989. Her mother and her brothers and sisters came in 1993. In 1999 Amy’s brother Jimmy and his wife Teresa opened US Nails on Ingersoll within walking distance of Terrace Hill. That’s where I come into the story. Every three weeks I’d stop there to get my nails done when I was first lady. US Nails attracted an eclectic clientele, and I enjoyed the back and forth between Teresa, Jimmy and their clients. I didn’t tell them who I was, because I didn’t need or want special treatment. Jimmy’s sister Amy arrived from Vietnam with her family in 2000 and in 2006 came to work at the salon.

Amy reminded me Friday that I was her first client. Teresa had always done my nails, but on Amy’s first day, Teresa asked if I minded if Amy took care of me. No problem. She spoke little English, but she became my person. We would have continued as provider and customer except that one day I heard Jimmy and Teresa helping her study for her citizenship exam. They were talking about state government and discussing the governor and lieutenant governor, and, as I remember, they weren’t quite getting it right. It was a dilemma. What if she doesn’t pass her test because I didn’t step up? As a teacher I couldn’t let that happen.

I explained the basics of state government, who the current governor was and the lieutenant governor and then let them know why I knew so much about it. Teresa and Jimmy were already citizens. They had an established life in Des Moines. Amy and her husband Bao Nguyen had come to Iowa with three daughters born in Vietnam, including a 3-month-old. They lived with Amy’s parents until they could purchase a home with help from Jimmy and Teresa. Their fourth daughter was born here in Des Moines, and now Amy and Bao are grandparents.

Amy reminds me that every three weeks I came to US Nails for a manicure, testing her each time to make sure she was understanding the questions on the citizenship test.

I WAS HONORED TO ATTEND AMY’S CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY

When Amy passed, she invited me to her citizenship ceremony in 2007. I was honored to attend. There were hugs and photos. Amy keeps these photos in a drawer in her salon. When Tom accepted a Cabinet position with President Obama, our lives changed. We traveled back and forth between homes in Des Moines, Ames and rentals in DC. I lost track of Amy.

Photos from Amy’s citizenship ceremony in 2007 that she keeps in a drawer at her salon.

Amy’s life changed too. She and Bao moved their family to a home in Beaverdale. Amy started her own business. She opened a salon in Winterset and for the past 18 years has commuted from her home in Des Moines every day to the small county seat town in Madison County.

Amy came to cherish the people she served. They felt the same way about her. They respected her work ethic. She educates them about nail hygiene. (She doesn’t paint toenails during the winter when her clients are at risk for fungus.) She took care of them during the pandemic to keep them safe by installing chairs and stations with shields. Linda Stoeffler, a client for a dozen years, says of Amy, “Her service is important to women and men alike. She has turned men’s feet and toes into healthy works of art!” Linda helped Amy perfect her English. She asked questions about Vietnam and met Amy’s family. Now she’s sporting a new nail color called hot chili.

Winterset is closer to my home than downtown Des Moines, so when I need a small-town day, I enjoy going there for all sorts of reasons. Last fall I campaigned there for Democrats running for congress and the state legislature. During the Bridges of Madison County Festival, I reconnected with teacher and former candidate, Vicky Brenner, who told me that her nail tech, Amy, was a friend of mine. I decided to reconnect.

18 YEARS LATER, I SHOWED UP FOR ANOTHER MANICURE

Last week, after 18 years, I showed up for another manicure. After the hugs and the arrival of Vicky and Linda, who of course heard I was coming, we got down to business. “I know these hands,” she exclaimed. “It has been so long since I have held these hands.” Never beautiful, my hands are knobbier with arthritis and ragged after six weeks without a manicure. But she still remembers to smooth the ridges on my thumbs, to cut my nails short and paint them an unobtrusive pink, no gel.

Amy and Christie reuniting after 18 years.

Amy’s Nails is a one-woman operation just off the town square. Her front window is filled with lush green plants. She is proud of the business she has built and the upgrades she’s made to her shop. She offers superior products to her clients. No cutting corners.

Amy’s been around long enough to have lost some of her Winterset clients and friends but she’s always adding new ones. Vicky says she’s known Amy since 2009 when she first opened her shop in Winterset. Vicky’s parents had just moved to assisted living. They were practical people, both teachers, and her mom had never splurged on getting her nails done. “The first time I took Mom to Amy’s they had an instant connection. Amy said my mom reminded her of her own grandmother who was still in Vietnam. I have learned a great deal from Amy about her culture and heritage, including the custom of honoring our elders for the sacrifices they made and the wisdom they possess,” says Vicky.

Amy’s parents briefly left Iowa for California and returned, convinced it wasn’t where they wanted to raise their children. Amy and Bao also chose to stay in Des Moines. Two of their daughters graduated from Hoover and two from Roosevelt. They are all well-educated and established with good jobs. Bao worked for Dahls, then Price Chopper and now works for Mercy Hospital. Amy’s salon in Winterset and the people who have become her clients and friends helped make her success possible. “Of course I did it for the money,” she said, but she said she loved the sense of community she found in Winterset and the people who have become her friends.

NONE OF US SHOULD HAVE TO WHISPER ABOUT IMMIGRATION

Before I leave, I mention the protests in Los Angeles and across the country. I ask how it feels to be an immigrant today. She lowers her voice to a whisper even though there’s no one else there to hear. She worries about the treatment of immigrants, but she clearly doesn’t feel comfortable talking about it.

So I’m talking for her. And so are the people gathering peacefully in public places across the country this week. We have always been a nation of immigrants. Amy’s story is the story of my family and many of yours. Immigrants are vital to the economies of rural places like Madison County and equally important to the economies of major cities like Los Angeles and New York. None of us should have to whisper about it.

P.S.THE IOWA CUBS WILL HOST THEIR 17TH CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY AT PRINCIPAL PARK AT 6:30 JULY 3RD PRIOR TO THE GAME AND FIREWORKS. THANK YOU MICHAEL GARTNER FOR STARTING THIS ONE-OF-A-KIND CELEBRATION.