PLATFORM : Citizenship Debate: ‘I Will Never Stop Being Mexican’

An unprecedented number of Mexican immigrants are applying to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for citizenship in wake of Proposition 187. Historically, however, Mexicans are among the most reluctant to apply for U.S. citizenship.

One of the major reasons is a reluctance to give up Mexican property rights to become a U.S. citizen, in addition to a general cultural loyalty. Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party is proposing to allow dual nationality to Mexicans wanting to naturalize abroad. This would doubtless encourage many qualified Mexicans living in the United States to apply for U.S. citizenship. As Miguel Escobar of the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles describes the concept, which is likely to become Mexican law: “You can’t be a citizen (eligible to vote) in two countries because you can’t exercise political rights and pay allegiance in two countries; but you can be a national in two countries for economic reasons.”

RUTELY CONDE talked with Mexican Americans of both U.S. and Mexican citizenship about the proposal as well as what it means to belong to two cultures. *

ROSA SPRING, Anaheim

Administrative assistant of construction firm, Mexican born, U.S. resident

I immigrated to the United States 26 years ago. I was married to an American citizen for five years and naturalizing was never an issue for either of us. I never saw a need to become an American citizen. As a resident, I’ve had all the rights that Americans have except the right to vote, and I have never been very politically active.

After Proposition 187, I began to feel that if I didn’t become a citizen, rights would be taken away from me. With the way things are going, citizenship is a new priority, so I submitted my citizenship application one month ago.

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RUBEN MARTINEZ, Los Angeles

Writer, commentator. Born a U.S. citizen

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A dual-nationality proposal addresses a reality that anyone of Mexican descent has known: Mexicans in the United States are not like other immigrants. The Southwest region was part of Mexico and there is a long, painful and great history that connects the Southwest and Mexico.

There has always been a resistance on the part of Mexican nationals becoming U.S. citizens. A lot of this is based on the collective historical memory of injustices done to Mexicans going back to 1848 and, in more recent years, discrimination like Proposition 187.

My father is Mexican and my mother Salvadoran. Both are U.S. citizens, but I don’t consider myself a patriot or nationalist. I consider myself Chicano Salvadoran. I share in the traditions of this country, Mexico and El Salvador.

Mexican Americans are different than German Americans, Italian Americans, Irish Americans or Polish Americans in both a geographical and a cultural sense. There have been conflicts between European nations and the United States, but there is an ocean that separates us. The battle over territory in the Southwest, a bitterly painful memory, is a crucial difference. You can talk about Irish pride and Italian American pride--I’m not saying they don’t have a sense of national heritage--but I think for Mexican Americans, it’s much stronger. You can sense it in the Mexican American barrios, where the cultural ties are constantly replenished by the immigrant who crosses the border and those here who visit Mexico.

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IRENE WONGPEC, Eagle Rock

President of the Ladies Club of Tecuala, a group of Mexican immigrants; recently applied for U.S. citizenship

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I’ve been a resident since 1970 but, for one reason or another, I had not applied for citizenship. After Proposition 187, I realized what could happen, not only to undocumented immigrants but to (legal) residents as well. We must be able to vote.

Citizenship in the United States helps us to have the culture of one country and participate in the other’s society. I will never stop being Mexican. As residents here, we have both cultures because we celebrate Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July and other American holidays. I won’t stop celebrating Mexican holidays such as Cinco de Mayo (May 5) and Independence Day. The only difference now is that when they play the national anthem, I will feel that I owe my respects to the American flag.

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JOE ROMO JR., Los Angeles

Chairman of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs, former U.S. Air Force sergeant and Vietnam veteran, U.S.-born, parents immigrated from Mexico

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I am very much into what is happening in Mexico because I have a lot of relatives who live in Mexico. I believe I am a Mexican patriot; I call Mexico my second home.

I grew up in a traditional Mexican family where not only Christmas was celebrated, but also Dia de los Reyes (the Day of the Three Kings, or Epiphany, Jan. 6) When I look at our ancestry, I look at the (Aztec emperor and) warrior Cuauhtemoc and I think that’s why Mexican Americans have done so well in this country’s military.

If the United States were to go to war with Mexico, it would feel like fighting a civil war for me. We have been trained through the military that our country is our country and we have to defend it no matter our interests, and it is an oath that stays with us forever.

I think a dual nationality would benefit the United States because it would allow immigrants to make a better living for themselves and would boost the economy.