97 take oaths to become US citizens

By Ashley Meeks ameeks@lcsun-news.com
Posted: 09/03/2010 11:01:29 PM MDT

LAS CRUCES - It took two years and a lot of work, said 62-year-old Manuel Marquez, but it was well worth it.

Watched proudly by families and friends, Marquez and 96 others from 12 countries took the oath of allegiance before U.S. District Judge Robert C. Brack and became American citizens Friday morning.

Across the country, more than 390,000 cases are expected to go before the country's immigration courts this year, according to the Houston Press.

"I'm happy in the United States," said Marquez, a roofer who was born in Mexico. "And I want to bring my mom. I did it for her, nothing else. It's a little hard in Mexico right now."

That's a tremendous understatement; almost 2,050 people have been murdered just this year in Juárez, an hour's drive from Las Cruces. In comparison, there have been 2,061 coalition military fatalities in Afghanistan in the past decade.

Lydia Lopez, 40, a school health instructor in Anthony, N.M., also cited the ongoing warfare across the border in her desire to earn American citizenship. Lopez was also born and raised in Chihuahua before coming to Las Cruces and earning a bachelor's degree at New Mexico State University. She tried to make things work in Mexico, she said: "It was a bad idea."

On Friday, immigration papers in hand, her high school-aged daughters in the crowd supporting her, Lopez said she was excited about her new national identity - but that her work wasn't over yet.

"I still have my father," she said. "He's over here.

He's applying for citizenship. We want to help our sister, who's over there in Chihuahua ... My mom-in-law lives over there, too. I see those pictures (of cartel violence) and it's kind of hard."

Her family has canceled trips across the border. Her sister doesn't leave the house after 5 p.m. Lopez herself said she's come across "painful" scenes twice in Chihuahua, just after people had been killed in the streets. She summed up her accomplishment Friday this way: "I feel safety."

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.

Countries of origin
Participants in Friday's ceremony were from:

•Mexico

•Canada

•Guatemala

•Nicaragua

•Colombia

•Indonesia

•Philippines

•Iran

•Cameroon

•South Africa

•Germany

•United Kingdom

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