San Jacinto Monument to Host Naturalization Ceremony

New CIS Director Eduardo Aguirre to Speak
Judge to Administer Citizenship Oath to Wife

The San Jacinto Monument will be the site for a naturalization ceremony for new United States citizens September 25. 

The event will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, September 25, on the grounds of the Monument in La Porte for 36 naturalization applicants.  The public is invited to the ceremony.

The Honorable Manuel Leal, judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, will preside over the ceremony and will administer the oath of allegiance to the applicants, including his wife.  Betty M. Leal was born in Mexico City but has lived in the United States since she was 12 years old.  Judge Leal said becoming an American citizen is something she has wanted for years.

Leal plans to retire from the court soon.  "This is my last ceremonial act and I couldn't end my career on a better note," he said.  "After 25 years as a judge, 20 as a federal court judge, this is the happiest exercise of my authority in my career."

The event will be a family affair.  The Leals' daughter, Laura Leal Romo, will cite the pledge of allegiance.  Good friend Tony Vallone, the Houston restaurateur whose parents were immigrants, will speak and his wife Donna will sing the National Anthem.

The new director of the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) former Houstonian Eduardo Aguirre will deliver the opening remarks.   Aguirre and the Leals are longtime friends.  Judge Leal had planned to administer the oath to his wife in his chambers but he said Aguirre insisted on a big ceremony and offered to return to Houston to be a part of the event.

The Houston CIS office suggested holding the event at the San Jacinto Monument.  Judge Leal was extremely pleased to be at "the historic milestone in the life of Texas, Mexico and the United States."

On March 1, 2003, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services became one of three former INS components to join the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  CIS is charged with fundamentally transforming and improving the delivery of immigration and citizenship services while enhancing the integrity of our nation's security.