Becoming American provides lessons for all Americans

“Argentina 1, Armenia 1 ...”

With those words the speaker began the roll call of nations for persons taking the oath of American citizenship at the Fresno convention center Tuesday. I had a personal interest in the proceedings; my wife Ana Lacasta, born in Spain, was there to take the oath herself.

This was the finale for the course Ana determined she wanted to take and had begun last September. As a legal permanent resident of the United States for over 30 years, Ana did not need to become a citizen. She wanted to.

Becoming a citizen is an extraordinary and inspirational process. After one fills out the application the INS spends the necessary time doing background checks before you get called in for the final interview. This often takes several months for this to happen.

I drove with her to Fresno for that interview four weeks ago, but was not allowed to sit in. It was there they gave her the test on American government and history. The INS supplies all applicants with a remarkably concise and unbiased summary of our history and government upon which the test is based.

I read the booklet closely, and was struck by its capacity to explain our system simply but accurately. It should be must reading for every news reporter and commentator on every cable TV network. It would not be a waste to have our elected officials read it periodically, also.

Ana passed the test, and was told she would be notified soon when the oath would be administered.

Some years ago a friend of ours had taken the oath at her home in Turlock. Congressman Dennis Cardoza had arranged this, and Vicky had a small gathering to take the oath and celebrate the occasion. But Ana wanted to attend the larger, public ceremony. It was the right call.

There were 691 people taking the oath. The oldest was 91. Another 2,000-plus friends and families attended. People of every ethnic group, religion and age. Among the oath takers and observers were people in suits, jeans, uniforms, ties, jackets, veils, turbans and baseball hats. There were even two in Dodger jackets (which could be a sign that background security checks aren’t perfect.)

Speaking of background checks, when Ana went into her interview and test the administrator opened her file. In it were the original documents from when she first arrived in the United States in 1987. That’s a good sign. The government was able to find material over 30 years old originally given them in New York.

Passing the test however isn’t the last hurdle to becoming a citizen. Applicants are told there will be one more form to fill out and sign on the day they take the oath.

This form asks if the applicant has traveled outside the country, become married or divorced, been arrested for any crime or infraction, received any sums of money from overseas during the time period between the interview and the swearing-in ceremony. It also asked if the applicant had become a “habitual drunkard” during that time period. Honestly, my family, the Lynchs, has had much experience with alcohol (in the past, fortunately).

The form asks about any crimes or infractions, even minor traffic citations. It made me wonder. Once, many years ago, I ran up a debt of over $1,100 in unpaid parking tickets while working in the state capitol in Sacramento. I had no idea how much I owed and probably would have ignored it entirely until I got the notice from DMV that my car registration was on hold. I quickly paid, but wonder now if that was on my record; if I had been applying for citizenship, would they have allowed me to take the oath?

The oath itself is no small thing. It hasn’t changed since 1952, and requires the oath taker to support the constitution of the United States and to defend it from all enemies, foreign and domestic, to renounce all allegiance to foreign princes, or states or countries, and to bear arms or perform service to the armed services of the United States when required by law, and to perform work of national importance under civilian authority when required by law. In other words, you’re all in!

Hearing almost 700 people reciting those words together, in a dozen different accents but with a certain solemnity, brought chills to many; it made me proud of Ana, and proud to be an American.

Persons from Bulgaria, China, Brazil France, Fuji, Iran, Laos and dozens of other countries took the oath. There were two others from Spain, and 11 from Ireland. Mexico had over 400, and India over 80. But once taken, every one of them is a citizen of the United States of America. The ceremony concluded with the new Americans, and all of their family and friends, joining in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

Once the ceremony was over the INS officials gave the new Americans their certificates, and told them look it over carefully for any typos or misspelling. They would correct any right after lunch. Ana’s had an error. It had her gender listed as male, not female. We took it to the INS staffer who recognized the error, laughed aloud and looked me in the eye saying, “I bet this is a surprise to you.” INS quickly corrected the mistake and Ana now has a perfectly accurate certificate of citizenship.

There is a lot in the news about citizenship. The INS and Department of Homeland Security officials handled the huge crowd professionally and seamlessly. They did a first-rate job. Tuesday wasn’t about politics. It was about who we are as a people. Today we, all of us, are better for Ana and the people who stood with her, having taken the oath.

This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Becoming American provides lessons for all Americans."