Ricky Delao poses for a photo with Lady Liberty after he took the oath of citizenship during recent ceremonies. (Courtesy photo)

By BARBARA GREEN
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Thirty-eight years after he arrived in the United States as an eight-year-old boy Ricky Delao held up his right hand and gave the “Oath of Allegiance” to the United States of America.
He gave up his long-held green card and became a naturalized American citizen excited to enjoy all the rights and benefits that come with that designation.
Delao, 46, from Bowie celebrated this landmark day with his children, Monica, Lexis and Colby, who were visibly proud of their dad. He joined 42 other immigrants on July 23 in a naturalization ceremony in Irving.
When asked why it took him so long to seek out citizenship, Delao does not hesitate to say he should have done it a long time ago, but he decided more than a year ago it was finally time.
“I have been here a lot of years and I should have done it before because it has so many opportunities that come with it, such as voting,” said Delao.

Delao was born in Juarez, Mexico just across the border from El Paso. His father traveled into the U.S. every day on a work visa to provide for his family returning home to Mexico each night. His mother was a stay at home mom who with her husband would raise six children, all boys. Two of those boys were born in the United States.
“My dad made much better money coming over here and he wanted to save as much as he could to bring us to the United States. That happened around 1980 when I was eight,” recalls Delao.

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