New U.S. citizens have a 'great' day

When Yaseen Patel was a high school student in Karachi, Pakistan, he knew so much about U.S. policy and pop culture that his friends would tease him.

"They would joke: ‘You should have been born in that country. You should not have been born here,’ " Patel said, lightly chuckling.

On Thursday, he finally became part of the nation he has long admired, Patel said. He was one of 105 people who took the oath of allegiance to the United States at the federal courthouse and became a U.S. citizen.

"It is a great day, a chance I have been waiting for all of my adult life," said Patel, who is now 65 years old.

For the ceremony’s keynote speaker, Patricia De Jesus Perez Romo, her new status as a citizen would allow her to further develop professionally, she said. Romo, originally from Mexico, serves as an investment manager-vice president for the South Texas market of JP Morgan Chase & Co. and has a degree in industrial and system engineering from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores in Monterrey, Mexico.

At the ceremony, she encouraged the audience to persevere and continue pursuing their goals in their new country.

"As my mom says, ‘Do not wait. Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today,’ " Romo said. "And today, a new episode starts in our lives."

Leaving your native country can be tough, U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle joked — almost like marriage.

"You love your wife, but you still love your mother," she said.

But Tagle welcomed the new citizens to participate in the democratic process in the United States and reminded the audience to vote, a freedom many residents don’t take advantage of in Cameron County.

"There is no reason not to vote; it is what we are all about," Tagle said. "A government is for the people by the people and you are those people — now as citizens."

To 20-year-old Sara Licia Reinoso the ceremony was a culmination of all the years she has been in the country, she said after the ceremony. Originally from Lima, Peru, Reinoso came to the United States when she was 2 years old with her mother and grandmother.

"I have been here for so long, (becoming a citizen) almost feels natural in a way," Reinoso said.

Going through the process of citizenship allowed Guadalupe Salinas Martinez, 70, to learn a lot about the United States, the country he has lived in for more than 20 years.

"I feel happy, " said Martinez, originally from Nuevo Leon, Mexico. "I feel like I have realized a dream."