BROWNSVILLE — “I cannot be prouder to be among the first to greet you as ‘my fellow Americans.’”
Those were the words spoken with just a hint of subtle pride by U.S. Magistrate Judge Ignacio Torteya III moments after some 35 people took the oath of citizenship in his courtroom at the Reynaldo G. Garza & Filemon B. Vela Courthouse in Brownsville on June 22.
The majority of the new citizens originally hailed from Mexico, but at least one person emigrated from as far away as Poland.
The ceremony was a full circle moment for the judge, whose own mother became a U.S. citizen in that very courtroom some years ago, just one month before Torteya took the bench.
“It’s an important matter for me, personally,” Torteya said after the naturalization ceremony. “As I mentioned, my mother did take the oath in that very courtroom in December of 2013. … It was a very emotional moment for my mother and I.”
Torteya presided over the naturalization ceremony of the newly minted Americans as a living example of the American dream. And as such, he encouraged them to fully pursue the educational opportunities the United States has to offer.
“What I hope that represents, as I mentioned to our new citizens, (is) that everything can be achieved through education,” Torteya said. “We live in a republic where you can rise (as high) as your hard work and talent and education will take you.”
He also encouraged the group to embrace the duties that come with citizenship, including the duty to be informed, to vote and to pay taxes — the latter of which he mentioned with a wry laugh.
But more importantly, Torteya urged the group to help shape the United States into the country they hoped it would be while they went through the naturalization process.
“You also have a duty to make this the country that you saw in your dreams and the country that you want it to be,” the judge said.
Integral to making that happen, Torteya explained, was by realizing that their citizenship journey is precisely what makes the U.S. so strong, alluding to the metaphor that the United States is a “melting pot” of cultures thanks to the myriad origins of its people.
“What makes us great is that each one of us, or our families, came from different parts of the world. And when they did so, they brought along their values and traditions, which makes up the fabric of our great country,” Torteya said.
“You must remember that what you did today is renounce allegiance to the government of the country (you came from). That does not mean that you must give up of your love for the land where you were born, or the people with whom you lived, or that you should ever forget or deny your heritage,” he added.
As they exited the courthouse after the ceremony, many of the new citizens were clearly beaming with excitement.
“I have finally realized the dream that I’ve had for many years,” Jesus Quintanilla, who emigrated from Monterrey, Mexico, said in Spanish.
His wife and children are citizens and he was proud to finally join them, “because this country has given me many opportunities,” he said.
Likewise, Eunice Alferes Sanchez, who also emigrated from Mexico, was ecstatic to become an American citizen after a 35-year journey.
“I felt so proud and happy,” Sanchez said, in Spanish, of what went through her mind when Torteya welcomed her and the others as “my fellow Americans.”
Sanchez said she is eager to exercise her new right to vote and encouraged other immigrants to continue striving for citizenship.
“If you want to become a citizen, you can. Fight for it. Fight to become a citizen of this great country,” she said.
