A few years ago I introduced you all to Francisco. Better known around the farm as Pancho, he works with our cows and is a cornerstone of the Majestic Crossing team. This month he made a very important choice for his life and I wanted to give him the chance to share more about it.
“On October 11th, 2023 I became an American. This has been a long process and wasn’t a decision I made without a lot of thought. In 2011 with the help of my wife and Darin as my sponsors, I became an official US resident. While that allowed me many privileges, it is not the same as having the rights of an American citizen.
I was born in Mexico and I love Mexico but my family, my wife and four daughters are American citizens. So after much thought I decided that becoming an American citizen was the right choice. I began the process of applying for citizenship earlier this year. The process took only about 3 months since I already had my US Resident status. It started with an application and background checks. Then I had to study for my citizenship test.
The citizenship test can make you nervous. They give you 100 questions that you have to study. During the actual test, they only ask you 10 questions from the list, but you have to study the whole thing because you don’t know which ones they will pick. The questions can be simple, like who the Vice President is, or they can be more difficult with questions about constitutional amendments or US history. You have to get 6 of the 10 questions right in order to pass. Thankfully I passed without getting any questions wrong. After passing the background checks and the test, I was scheduled to take the oath to become a citizen of this country.
As part of becoming an American, I had to deny Mexico and that will always be hard for me. Becoming a citizen was the right choice for my family and for myself. I will always be proud of where I came from, but I am happy to be able to vote and take part in the government of my home. I am proud to be an American and be able to give back to this country.”