Man breaks down in tears after voting for the first time since family's immigration to America in 1999

With the US presidential election in action for 2024, many are getting to vote for the first time. Some people just turned 18, while others are immigrants who were granted citizenship and are voting for the first time. Such is the story of a man, @whistlingvivaldi on TikTok, who talks about getting to vote for the first time since he moved to the US in 1999. 

"I am going to try my best to get through this. I do not know if natural-born citizens know what this feels like, right," the man said at the beginning of the video while tearing up. "My family moved to the United States in 1999 and for most of those things you just kind of had to make it through, right?" he conveyed. "There was nothing you could do, things just happen and you were trying to overcome. Be that 9/11, be that Katrina, be that Sandy Hook, be that the overturning of ROW, be the overturning of affirmative action, be that Citizens United, be that the Patriot Act, be that the housing crash, everything, right?" he shared while he fought back his tears. 

He talked about how these things were "altering the trajectories of people's lives," and how it was harder for people who weren't citizens. "If you weren't a citizen, you couldn't vote, you just had to suck it up and take what you got, there was no simply voicing on social media to get anybody to hear you, to have any way of affecting any sort of change," he added. 

He then said how after 26 long years, he finally got to vote that day for the first time as he started sobbing. After he collected himself he says, "Just maybe, I was able to affect the trajectory of not just my own life, but that of my family and that of millions, probably even billions of people around the world. Hopefully alleviates some sort of suffering, maybe affect some change," he adds. 

"I know that there are millions of you that think that your vote doesn't matter, that you are nothing more than a speck in the world. In all honestly, there might be some truth to that even in the United States where life liberty or even the pursuit of happiness is not always guaranteed. But there are people like my family who have left everything behind and have spent thousands and thousands of dollars, traveled across oceans for just the 'Maybe,'" he shared. "So I encourage all of you guys go out and vote, and when you do all that I ask is that you keep in mind those who do not have the same voice," he said before ending the video. 

Many took to the comment section, talked about how important voting is, and commended him for everything he said. "Well done, young fella I am sitting in Outback South Australia Watching this all unfold I feel a lot of Americans don't understand that the world needs a good candidate to win," commented @mariannekarlsen4. @etishome4good shared, "You are everything this country was meant to be. I felt this to my core. I cried with you. I am so glad you and your family are here. Embrace every emotion. Every moment. You are part of the change." "Congratulations, you beautiful human. May this country endeavor to deserve you," wrote @anniesparkie.

You can follow @whistlingvivaldi on TikTok for more lifestyle content.