For five soon-to-be naturalized South Valley immigrants, the difference between the United States of America and their home country of Mexico is so great they had a hard time articulating it, even through a Spanish translator.
One thing is for sure: they can't wait to proudly call themselves United States citizens.
In only a few months, depending on when they each get the call to complete an interview and take a civics test, they will raise their right hand to take the Oath of Citizenship, holding American flags and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as Americans.
Brothers Hector and Hugo Llamas and their wives, both named Maria, will be four more immigrants to gain citizenship with the help of Gilroy Citizenship and Educational Programs, a non-profit organization that has assisted about 100,000 South Valley immigrants in gaining citizenship since January 2000.
The family has spent most of their lives in California. The short, dark-haired Jalisco native Hector Llamas, 39, stepped on U.S. soil first, 22 years ago in 1986, looking for more opportunities and a better life. He now lives in Hollister.
"We have been able to succeed, and there is greater peace here," Llamas said.
Hugo Llamas came two years later, in 1988, and lives in Gilroy now.
"It's OK," he said of Jalisco, their home state. "But there's no work, no opportunities, so we had to immigrate."
Hugo Llamas stood a little taller as he spoke of the restaurant chain he owns with his brother, El Grullense Taqueria. For 11 years, from 1997 until about five years ago, El Grullense was just a lunch truck but now the brothers own five of them, three in Gilroy and two in Hollister.
Hugo Llamas said he never would have been a restaurateur in Mexico.
Hector's wife, Maria, followed in 1990 and Hugo's wife, who's also named Maria, came in 1992. She was happy to become a citizen, she said.
"I've spent more than half my life here, my kids are born here," Maria Llamas said. "I love this country."
Hector Llamas is thankful for the American spirit of hospitality and service he's felt from his neighbors since arriving to the United States.
"They always try to help me, that's why I wanted to learn the language," he said. "We're happier here than in Mexico."
If they were still in Mexico, the Llamas said they'd probably still be working in the fields.
Hector Llamas said being a legal resident, but not a citizen, was "a little uncomfortable" and that's why he was looking forward to being naturalized.
"One is more sure of oneself, but there's a lot of responsibility, too," he said. "We're very sure, very confident."
Hugo Llamas said the two government systems are different, and the United States provides him with more security. For example, he said that in Mexico, you could pay four to six times to register a car in one year through the Mexican government, but in the United States, the law says you pay once, and then that's what happens.
"My kids go to school here, the schools are better here," Hector Llamas said. "In Mexico, there's not a lot of help."
Maria Llamas, Hector's wife, said Mexico only offers expensive private high schools to parents who want to make sure their children get a good education.
Hector's and Maria's daughter, Jennifer Llamas, 13, said her parents are grateful to provide things for her and her three siblings that they wouldn't be able to afford in Mexico, like nice clothes.
Maria Llamas said she'll feel more secure knowing she is a citizen and not just a resident of this country.
"We have a lot invested in this country," she said. "Our children are here, we own a business."
San Martin resident Ruben Vizcarra, who is also from Jalisco, Mexico, has lived in the United States since 1956, when he began receiving temporary work visas for contract work in the California fields picking tomatoes.
"It's really so we can help our families," Vizcarra, 73, said. "The main thing is the family."
Vizcarra has five children, three in California and two in Mexico.
"Unfortunately, in Mexico the pay scales are very low," Vizcarra said. "Here, there is continual work."
Vizcarra doesn't work anymore because of work-related knee injuries.
"It's better here, because here we have the benefit of working, retiring, and getting social security," Vizcarra said.
Ed Sanchez, emeritus director of the program, said Vizcarra lives on a little more than $600 a month through social security.
Although Vizcarra said he's grateful for the opportunities America affords, his roots are still in Mexico.
Still, he's proud to soon call himself an American citizen, which will happen when he attends an upcoming oath ceremony this summer.
Sanchez said the naturalization process could take as little as three months to more than three years. Applicants must either be married to a U.S. citizen for three years, or be permanent legal residents for four years and nine months to be eligible for citizenship, Sanchez said.
After filling out a 10-page application and paying a $675 fee, the citizen hopeful is fingerprinted, interviewed, graded on a civics test and then attends an oath of allegiance ceremony where they will receive their certificate of naturalization. A lot of this is a waiting game, as the applicant waits for appointments for each step in the process, Sanchez said.
The Llamas and Vizcarra said one of their main reasons to make the leap from permanent legal residents to citizens is the right to vote. They all hope to complete the process in time for the November election - although they declined to say who they might vote for then.
"I think that's a secret," Vizcarra said, laughing.
Another 127 residents from California's Central Coast attended a naturalization ceremony at Salinas's National Steinbeck Center June 30, hosted by Congressman U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-Salinas).
Iraq-born Gilroy resident Sarmad Alkhayatt, a language and technology specialist for the Monterey-based Defense Language Institute, was the keynote speaker. Alkhayatt became a citizen in 1999, after moving to the United States in 1992.
"I wanted to be a part of the American dream and to feel like I belonged," Alkhayatt told the crowd of immigrants from 24 different countries. "America has the strongest and best citizenship in the world."
Natalie Everett
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett is the education and city reporter for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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