U.S. Service Members Become Citizens At White House Naturalization

By Raisa Camargo, Voxxi

Carlos Navichoque crossed the Tijuana border into the U.S. 18 years ago as a toddler. A native from Guatemala, Navichoque never thought he would one day be sworn in as a naturalized citizen by the president of the United States.

But on Wednesday, he was one of two dozen active duty service members — almost half of whom are Latinos — who celebrated the Fourth of July in the East Room at the White House in a naturalization ceremony presided over by President Barrack Obama.

Navichoque lived as an undocumented immigrant for four years. He enlisted in the army in 2009 and was deployed to Iraq. On Wednesday, he had a message for those living in limbo because they don’t have papers.

“Don’t ever give up on faith,” Navichoque told VOXXI.

Obama took the opportunity to not only applaud the efforts of the active service duty members, whose backgrounds were rooted as far as Russia to Colombia, but to also press his support for comprehensive immigration reform.

“This is one of my favorite things to do. It brings me great joy and inspiration because it reminds us we are a country that is bound together not simply by ethnicity and bloodlines, but by fidelity to a set of ideas,” Obama told a crowded room of supporters.

‘“We are a nation of immigrants,” he said. “It’s a story of us. It’s who we are.”

Wednesday’s celebration comes less than a month after the president issued an executive order to the Department of Homeland Security that allows more than 800,000 young undocumented adults who came here as children to remain in the United States.

The president further emphasized the need for Congress to pass the DREAM Act and address comprehensive immigration reform during his speech.

Giving the oath of allegiance was Secretary of DHS Janet Napolitano , who recognized each of the members, while exclaiming that today they “have earned all the rights and responsibilities that come with being citizen of the United States.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Alejandro Mayorkas joined the president at the White House and delivered opening remarks.

“These 25 exceptional individuals took an oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution’ before sharing fully in the rights and opportunities it provides,” said Director Mayorkas. “We are all inspired by their commitment to freedom and service to preserve our great nation.”

It was a diverse group of individuals whose backgrounds stemmed from 17 different countries including 10 nationals from Latin America and Central America.

Lance Corporal Byron Oswaldo Acevedo, a native from Guatemala City, arrived four months ago from a tour of duty in Afghanistan — with a Purple Heart. During Wednesday’s naturalization ceremony, he recalled with some trepidation the circumstances of his situation.

“A bomb exploded below the car. That’s hard just to imagine it again,” he said, and then referred to his new citizenship status:  “I think I do deserve it.”

Byron enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 2010. He served in Operation Enduring Freedom and in Afghanistan in a Quick Reaction Force and Aerial Interdiction Force.  In addition to the Purple Heart, he has been awarded with a Combat Action Ribbon, Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Nato Medal-ISAF Afghanistan and an Armed Forces Reserve Medal.

His father came to the United States as a political refugee and will be receiving his naturalization papers as a U.S. citizen on Saturday.

“It’s been my dream to become a U.S. citizen and today it was accomplished,” Byron said.

This article was first published in Voxxi.

Raisa Camargo is a staff writer at Voxxi.