Probation officer makes a difference
By: J. Daniel Cloud, <a href=www.zwire.com>The Daily Citizen May 05, 2003
Ivette Martinez-Moncus, a probation officer with Georgia Probation Services, became an American citizen on Aug. 29 after eight years of living here. Now she encourages others to do the same.
"I still speak with an accent, but I'm an American now," Moncus said. "I believe the only way you can be successful as an immigrant in this country is to make a difference, and being a citizen helps with that.
"When you speak with an accent people are going to question you. Now I have a guarantee that I have exactly the same rights as everyone else."
Moncus, who holds a law degree from Zulia University in Maracaibo, Venezuela, was working as an attorney in the banking industry "when about eight of the banks in Venezuela went out of business," prompting her to accept a friend's urging to move to the United States, she said.
In recent years a new Venezuelan constitution allowed citizens of that country to have dual citizenship there and in the United States, so Moncus didn't have to give up her position as a Venezuelan citizen to become an American.
This distinction is very important because she still has very strong ties to the nation of her birth.
"I have my parents there. My college was there. My classmates are there," Moncus said.
One of the biggest influences in her life - her 6-year-old son, Jerry Joseph "J.J." Moncus - is here, and he keeps her busy in her non-working hours.
"J.J. Moncus is my life," she said. "He's a great son. He's a red belt in Tae Kwon Do. He's in the kindergarten at Brookwood School. He plays the piano. I love bragging about him."
Her work, her son and other connections to Dalton are very important to Moncus.
"This is my place now. This is my home. But I can't stop thinking about that place, about Venezuela."
Two things she misses about life in Maracaibo, aside from her family, are the food and the social connections she had made at school and in business.
"Maracaibo is a big city, about three million people. It's not like Dalton, and that has been hard to get used to," Moncus said. The differences aside, Moncus prefers being in Dalton to Venezuela, and she's not planning to go back for anything more than a short visit.
If for no other reason, the current political situation under President Hugo Chavez is so restrictive - and it's getting more so - that going back isn't an attractive option.
"I won't go back until he is not in power," Moncus said. The rear window of Moncus's SUV has the slogan "Freedom for Venezuela" painted on it, reflecting her beliefs.
Chavez was deposed for a few days last year by the Venezuelan military, but he quickly resumed his position.
"He's a Communist," Moncus said. "He's a good friend of Fidel Castro and he visited Saddam Hussein in 2000."
When people ask what she thinks of Chavez, she usually says she is "praying for someone to kill him, or for him to get out somehow." Because of the trouble there, some of Moncus' family is considering moving to the United States. Her parents were here in Dalton this month and returned to Maracaibo, which was "very disappointing" for her.
When Moncus came to the United States to work, she moved initially to Fort Oglethorpe, then worked in the legal system for several years in Whitfield County before moving to Georgia Probation Services two and a half years ago.
"I enjoy my job because I can help people at the same time I supervise them," she said. Probation "is usually viewed as a very tough job, and it is tough. But I can make a difference by helping people be better citizens.
"Of course you're going to have people who are in the system over and over again, but I do my best. The only way you can get your goals is to be challenged and keep working."
"Doing her best" also includes volunteering with the First Steps program of the Family Support Council, which "helps new moms learn to deal with depression" and other stresses that face them, she said.
Moncus has won state and national awards for her work in the prevention of child abuse with First Steps. Through her job and her volunteering, Moncus said, she continues to "encourage people, especially women," to finish school and go on to college.
This is especially needed for immigrants to this country, and it's a continuation of her encouragement that they pursue citizenship here, she said, noting that "the idea of coming to the United States is to get a better life, and the education provides that forever."
Moncus would like to go back to law school here, to get a license to practice law. In the meantime, she enjoys working in the legal field even though she can't actually practice.
"I keep saying I want to get my law degree here, but the years keep going by and I haven't done it. But I don't have to pay taxes on my dreams."