Before 1906, naturalization documents could be issued by states.  An alien first declared his or her intention to become a citizen, as shown in the Declaration of Intention shown above.  Most states were very liberal in granting citizenship to aliens who wanted to vote.

Welcome to Immigration History & Folklore

After spending 39 years as an immigration officer, I retired in December 2011, and decided to write a book.  I found my vast experience writing government memos worked against me.  I also learned publishers want to hear from agents, and agents want to see work in a perfect format, which is different than government memos.  I also learned both agents and publishers want authors to have a following.  First time authors are not judged by the quality of their writing, but by the number of people who read their blogs.

I have hundreds of stories to share, so why not start putting some of them on a blog.  As I learn how to blog, I will add photos and links to longer stories.  My goal is to share the historical knowledge I have of immigration history, policy, laws, folklore, and humor.  I hope others share my interest and will appreciate the stories I put on this blog.

 

Story # 1: The Black Chicken

In March of 1973 I was inspecting pedestrians coming into the United States at the Paso del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas.  In my line was an elderly Hispanic woman carrying a live black chicken.

When her turn came, the elderly woman declared her citizenship by saying, “U.S. city”, which was TexMex for United States citizen.  I was convinced the lady really was a U.S. citizen, but I could not let her bring the chicken into the United States.  I tried to explain in Spanish that the chicken might be a carrier for Exotic Newcastle disease, but my Spanish was not fluent and she did not seem to understand what I was saying.  She kept repeating in Spanish, “My children will die! My children will die!”

I became frustrated and referred the lady to an inspector from the Department of Agriculture who spoke good Spanish.  Thirty minutes later he came to me and explained what the problem was.

A wicked witch had put a curse on her two grandchildren that she was raising.  In order to break the spell she needed to feed her grandchildren chicken soup made from a black chicken.  The lady didn’t know where to buy a black chicken in El Paso so she crossed the border and bought a chicken in Mexico.

The agriculture inspector called his supervisor and tried to get permission for her to bring the chicken into the U.S., but the request was denied.  He then spent twenty minutes making more phone calls and then went to the lady and told her to take the chicken back to Mexico and get her money back.  He handed her a note with the address of a store in El Paso that had live black chickens for sale.

The elderly lady followed his instructions and by the end of the day was able to make her chicken soup.  Her grandchildren lived happily ever after.

Note:  This is my favorite story and had a large impact on my desire to help the public.  While it may sound made up, it is true.  The agricultural inspector could have said, “You silly old woman, your children will not die!”  Instead, he had compassion on the woman and found a way to deal with her superstitions and still enforce American law.  Throughout my career I tried to find ways to help people while still enforcing our immigration laws.  Our laws are important.  Less than a year after this event, Exotic Newcastle disease wiped out over 500,000 chickens in West Texas.  The supervisors who resisted the request to let the live chicken cross the border were protecting our nation.  I soon realized I could not ignore my responsibilities as an immigration officer, but I could find ways to serve the public while enforcing the law.

            I was privileged to be taught by two of the finest INS officers on training days.  Joe Salazar spent 51 years with the INS before retiring.  He knew everything.  He was one of the very few INS employees of his era who had not started in the Border Patrol.  He started as a clerk in the 1940s and worked his way up because he was smarter than everyone else.  Ford Rackley was the Spanish instructor.  He also entertained us with his with hilarious stories.  He always claimed they were true.  We were never sure.  Ford began his career as a Border Patrol Agent in the 1930s.  He taught Spanish at the Border Patrol Academy in the 1950s and 60s and helped write the Border Patrol Spanish Handbook that was used for decades afterwards.

Both Joe and Ford taught us to be respectful of aliens.  We learned to speak to poor applicants as if they had money.  Ford taught us the Spanish phrase for “How may I be of service to you?” rather than merely asking, “What do you want?”  Joe taught us the importance of being so polite we could deny a benefit and still receive a sincere “thank you” from the applicant.  Both men belong in my personal Hall of Fame.  Their presence can be felt in all of my stories.