By Joe Hanel | Herald Denver Bureau
Monday September 5, 2006
It's a tough question, but it's a safe bet that Horacio Martinez knows the answer.
Martinez, of Cortez, was sworn in as a U.S. citizen Aug. 25. Another area man, Omar Payan of Pagosa Springs, was part of the same ceremony.
The voting-rights question was one of a hundred possible questions on their citizenship tests. (The answer is the 15th, 19th, 24th and 26th amendments.)
"If you don't study, it's going to be hard, but if you do study, it's easy. I studied really, really, really hard," Martinez said. "Every time at work I had a few minutes, I got out my questions to study."
Martinez said he spent about three months preparing for the test. He passed and joined 23 others from seven different countries at the Denver ceremony.
The new citizens can now vote, serve on juries and travel on a U.S. passport.
"I'm really happy. I thank God for the U.S. and the president, especially, for the opportunity to become a U.S. citizen," Martinez said. "I can say this is my home, too."
Martinez, 42, came to Cortez in 1982 from Chihuahua, Mexico. He's married to an American and has three daughters and a son, who passed away last year.
He works long hours for Key Energy Services, a company that maintains oil and gas wells. One day this week, his route took him to various points between Cortez and Grand Junction, then back home.
"Sometimes, I don't get home until 8, 9, 10 or 11," Martinez said.
Martinez has two brothers who have both become citizens.
"So I decided, well, I guess it's my turn, before something bad happens with Mexico," he said.
The current uproar over illegal immigration pushed him toward getting citizenship, he said.
"What if something happened and they sent us back to Mexico?" Martinez said.
Illegal immigration has been a hot topic at the state and national levels this year. The Colorado Legislature met in a special session in July and passed a law that sets up strict identification requirements before people can receive benefits such as welfare and unemployment.
In Washington, members of Congress are at an impasse over the House's tough enforcement-only immigration bill and a Senate bill that combines enforcement with a path to citizenship for people who, like Martinez, have lived in the country for a long time and maintained a good character.
Martinez joined the ranks of several thousand Coloradans who become citizens every year. Over the last 10 years, between 3,200 and 8,500 people a year have received citizenship in Colorado.
"This country has really opened its doors to a lot of people," said Marie Sebrechts, spokeswoman in San Diego for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The country as a whole will welcome about 600,000 new citizens this year. In addition, about 1 million become lawful permanent residents every year.
"It can be a long process," Sebrechts said. "There are two basic ways to do it. One is that you are sponsored by a family member who is already a citizen. The other is that you are sponsored by an employer."
People who want to become citizens first have to get a green card (they actually aren't green anymore) to show that they are lawful permanent residents.
Typically, people have to hold a green card for three to five years before they can apply for citizenship, Sebrechts said.
Getting a green card is the hardest step. All green card holders eventually can apply for citizenship, as long as they maintain "good moral character," stay in the United States for an extended period of time and pass a citizenship and English test, Sebrechts said.
First preference is given to spouses and children of citizens, Sebrechts said. But even those who are first in line have had to wait eight years to get their green cards, according to the State Department. The government sets the numbers of new citizens from each country to get a culturally diverse pool, Sebrechts said. Because of this, people from India, China, Mexico and the Philippines have to wait longer to get legal residence.
Mexican and Philippine spouses and children of U.S. citizens have to wait 14 and 15 years, respectively.
The Philippine siblings of U.S. citizens face the longest wait for a green card - currently 22 years, according to the State Department.
After all the years of waiting, some of them, like Martinez, go in to take the test.
