102-year-old Filipino man Becomes US citizen
30, June, ABC
Like many young immigrants, Joaquin Arciago Guzman came to the United
States looking for the American dream. In 1928, at age 18, he left the
Philippines for the Salinas Valley in California to harvest lettuce and
cabbage for 40 cents an hour.Eighty-four years later, at the age of 102,
Guzman placed his hand over his heart and took the U.S. Oath of
Allegiance Wednesday.
Guzman, along with 7,300 others, participated in a naturalization
ceremony at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the Los Angeles Daily
News reports.
“I’m happy,” Guzman told the Daily News after the ceremony, speaking
in Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines.Only 27 people
older than age 100 have become U.S. citizens in the past 50 years,
according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration office. The oldest person
to ever receive citizenship was 117 years old.
Guzman’s wife, and two of their adult children became U.S. citizens,
but Guzman never applied.Guzman, who has 20 grandchildren, wanted to
renew his green card when his niece and caretaker, Julie Guzman,
recommended he go for citizenship.
But he was nervous about answering U.S. history questions during the
interview, she said.A paralegal helped convince Guzman that citizenship
would be wiser, and cheaper, than renewing his green card.
“From there he could not sleep,” Julie Guzman said. “He’d always been
wondering how he is going to answer the officer. Every day he’d sleep
from only 12 to 1 a.m., and he kept reading the history book.
Then I said, ‘Darling you don’t need to memorize that.’”Even after a
doctor signed a waiver saying Guzman is unable to memorize information,
he kept studying, his niece said. Julie Guzman, already a citizen
herself, attended the ceremony Wednesday to support her uncle. She said
Guzman, who speaks little English, is hard of hearing and most likely
couldn’t understand the judge administering the oath.
The day of the ceremony, Guzman woke up at 5 a.m., excited and
worrying about how his hair looked. During the ceremony, Julie Guzman
helped her uncle out of his wheelchair so that he could stand during the
singing of the Star-Spangled Banner and the citing of the Pledge of
Allegiance. While he stood, Guzman, from North Hollywood, Calif., placed
his hand over his heart, next to an American flag in his coat pocket.
“He was so happy. He was so excited,” his niece said. ”We’re so very,
very proud of him.”
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