New citizens welcomed in Salinas ceremony

The same is true for Pacifico Esteban Pailma, who will be 70 this May. He came in 1986 to create a better life for his six children.

Both were among the 65 local immigrants sworn in as U.S. citizens Friday in the presence of family members and friends during the ceremony held at the Cesar Chavez Library in Salinas.

It's the second time the ceremony has taken place in partnership with the library and in observance of Cesar Chavez Day. Holding the event in Salinas saved some of those sworn in about a 125-mile round trip drive to Campbell, where the ceremony is held monthly.

Besides spending her adult life in this country, living in Santa Cruz and being educated at both Stanford and Berkeley, it's also where Barma is raising her 4-year-old daughter and 4-week-old son.

"So the fact that I'm able to join them in becoming an American citizen cements how meaningful this day is," she said.

While Barma was the only new citizen originally from Hong Kong, Pailma joined seven others from the Philippines. A widower, he first worked at a Salinas-area farm when he came to the U.S., then as a cook and then as a custodian for the school district.

Pailma was not shy about waving his miniature American flag that was included in his U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services packet and taken out once the Oath of Allegiance took place. Every year, the immigration service welcomes 700,000 to 750,000 citizens during naturalization ceremonies.

"It's so exciting and I'm so grateful to be a part of our country right now — so I'm very proud of it," he said, noting his excitement over the prospect of now being able to vote. "God Bless America."

As keynote speaker of the event, Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, thanked those sworn in for the commitment it takes to wade through the naturalization process. He also spoke of his own family's history of immigration.

"Thank you for taking this pledge, thank you for wanting to be American and most of all, for your willingness for accepting those obligations of wanting to be American," said Panetta, noting his grandfather's journey to America and specifically, his arrival at Ellis Island in 1921.

Panetta said that he, along with his two daughters, recently saw the actual ledger signed by his grandfather when he was processed there.

"When he got here he only had $5 in his pocket but that didn't stop him," said Panetta. "He worked in the gold mines of Wyoming and eventually settled here in Monterey up on Spaghetti Hill with all the other Italians. He gave his children and grandchildren a better life. He found and fulfilled his American dream."

Panetta also credited Cesar Chavez with helping others exercise their rights as Americans.

"The more you give, the more you get involved, the more you and your children will get back from this nation," said Panetta. "And the more you will shape the future of their country that is for and by ‘We the people.' "

While his remarks came at the end of the ceremony, he still had the full attention of the 65 newly sworn-in citizens. Panetta seemed inspired by them, too.

"It's ceremonies like this that embolden me to continue to work on immigration reform," he told The Herald. "I know how important immigration is to this country."

Panetta continued, "I said just the other day on the floor of the House … I told Mr. Trump to get out of his golden tower and to come to the fertile green of the Salinas Valley and see how much immigrants have contributed to this country."