My gorgeous daughter-in-law from Thailand was sworn in as a US Citizen this morning. She was one of 837 people from over 80 nations who have decided to join us here as Americans.
I will, of course, see to it that she is properly registered to vote and votes properly (for Democrats.) She will also be drafted to work in my voting precinct next time I am an election judge.
It was quite interesting. The swearing in was done in the Equestrian Center at Will Rogers Collesium. With that many people to swear in, and at least 1200 to 1500 family and friends, it was a real crowd. The process of checking the paperwork for each of the 837 new citizens took about two hours, so we all were entertained in the meantime.
They got members of high school rodeo clubs to come in and do trick riding, barrel racing, and they had a goat that kids rode out to, jumped off the horse, and tied up like a calf-roping. Costumes were western and Mexican both. In short, we had a rodeo while we were waiting for the paperwork.
There were also horse riders with the US flag, the Texas flag, and the Mexican flag. (Hey, this is Fort Worth - Cowtown!)
My joke was that some of the new citizens may not be totally sure if they were sworn in as Texas citizens, US citizens, or Mexican citizens. ;)
The keynote speaker was reared in both Mexico and Texas, and greeted the new citizens with a loud "Bienvenidos!" before he pointed out that by 2020 50% of the population in Texas will be Hispanic. Of course, even now 30% of the population of Texas was born in some other country.
Anyway, it was fun, boring, and exciting all at once. Of course, like anytime there is a large crowd made up of families, the most fun for me was watching the small children trying to entertain themselves and get their parents attention while the parents were busy either being bored or watching the relative/friend being sworn in from across the rodeo arena.
The swearing in of new US citizens is an experience that should not be missed.
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