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Proud to be an American

With their eyes fixed on the American flag, Juan Paul and Karla Guzman placed their right hands over their hearts and recited the pledge of allegiance.

After years of waiting, the UA students and Mexico natives were naturalized yesterday morning - along with 500 other immigrants hailing from Antigua to Uzbekistan.

However, they could not actually see the bright red and white stripes of their newly adopted flag, because the Guzmans are blind.

Juan Paul Guzman, a University of Arizona political science senior, and his older sister Karla, a Spanish junior, became legal United States residents in 1994 to attend Tucson's Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind.

However, they had to remain green card-carrying residents for five years before being able to apply for full citizenship.

The Guzmans have a genetic affliction known as Leber congenital amaurosis, a retinal dystrophy responsible for congenital blindness. Juan Paul Guzman said opportunities for disabled people are greater in the United States than they are in Mexico, but the decision for him and Karla to leave their home was not easy.

The siblings stayed with an adoptive American family while they were teenagers, and were not able to see their parents in Nogales for two years.

"We suffered a lot," Juan Paul Guzman said.

However, Juan Paul Guzman said he has been active and hard-working since he came to the United States. He and his sister both earned high school valedictorian slots and perfect citizenship exam scores.

"No matter all that I still have given a lot to this country and I have earned my citizenship," said Juan Paul Guzman, who said he is proud of his Mexican origin and would like to obtain dual Mexican-American citizenship. "Our blindness is not a limitation for us to be successful in the United States. We have to prove to them that we're going to give back to this country."

"That's our biggest challenge," he added. "We have to prove to them that we're here to give, not just receive. And we've done that."

The Guzmans formally applied for their citizenship in July 1999. About six months later, they received a letter from the Immigration and Naturalization Service setting an appointment to prove they had fulfilled the residency requirement, and to take a brief American history exam.

Upon their successful completion of all requirements, Juan Paul and Karla Guzman were sent a letter with yesterday's date as the day they would receive their citizenship.

Juan Paul Guzman said he and his sister were not given any special treatment by the INS because of their disability.

"The same way that others go through this process is the way we're going through this process," he said.

Karla Guzman agreed.

"I don't think they made any differences by any means," she said.

Juan Paul Guzman said he has been able to successfully go through life without eyesight - and getting his citizenship like any other immigrant is an example.

"I think I can do whatever I want to like this," he said. "I don't think I need my vision at all."

Juan Paul and Karla Guzman agreed that one of the most exciting advantages of being an American citizen is being able to cross the Arizona-Mexico border freely, showing American identification instead of a green card.

Juan Paul Guzman said he is also glad to get his citizenship before his college graduation, as well as in time to vote in the upcoming presidential elections.

"I'm very excited to vote in the presidential elections," he said. "I will vote in November, hopefully."

Karla Guzman said she was so excited about her citizenship, she did not mind having to reschedule an exam in one of her classes yesterday to attend the ceremony.

"It's like a culmination. This is the end, yet it's almost like the beginning. It's kind of like when you finish your master's degree and you have to present your thesis," she said. "You're just itching."

Jane Hodgson, a specialist from the Center for Disability Related Resources who works with the Guzmans, said she is "delighted" that the Guzmans received their official citizenship.

"This reminds me that all of us had ancestors who came to this country and who also applied for citizenship and took the oath of allegiance," said Hodgson. "It is a very significant step."

Hodgson agreed that the Guzmans' blindness has not prevented them from accomplishing as much as any sighted student.

"Blindness has not stopped either Juan nor Karla from doing anything that I know of. Juan is getting ready to take the LSAT and hopes to enter law school," she said. "Karla is also preparing for a professional career. They will someday be leaders in our community."

"They are the best kind of people," Hodgson added. "They are some of the students that make my job such a pleasure every day."