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Summary A 102-year-old Filipino man who came to US in 1928 to pick vegetables became a citizen.
A 102-year-old Filipino man who came to the US as a youth in 1928 to pick vegetables became a citizen during a touching naturalizationceremony in Los Angeles.Im happy, Philippines-born Joaquin Arciago Guzman said in his native Tagalog after Wednesdays ceremony, where about 7,300 joined him in taking the citizenship oath.Only 27 people older than 100 have become citizens in the past 50 years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.Its extremely rare to see anyone over 100, said Nancy Alby, the agencys field office director for Los Angeles County. We get a handful in their 90s and 80s. Its more common to see people in their 70s.The oldest person ever to become a citizen was Manik Bokchalian. She was 117 when she took the oath in 1997.Guzmans niece and caregiver helped him out of a wheelchair to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.Im happy for him. There are no words, niece Julie Guzman said in Tagalog.Guzmans daughter-in-law Elizabeth Guzman regretted that Guzmans wife, Paz, did not live to see the ceremony. She was 89 when she died in 2007.Its sad because she waited many years for him to become a citizen, Elizabeth said in Tagalog. But I believe shes looking down on us now, and shes happy.Guzman left the Philippines to harvest lettuce and cabbage in the fertile fields south of San Francisco.He returned to the Philippines and married Paz Irene Gatchalian, the came back to the United States before the birth of the first of their six children.Guzman brought his wife and two of their adult children to the United States in 1984. They became American citizens, but Guzman waited to submit an application for reasons that arent clear.
