Proud to be a citizen — Baeza gains citizenship

Michael Alexander

NLJ Reporter

For one Newcastle family, July 2, 2025, marked a significant occasion. On this date, Sofia Baeza, wife of Alvaro Baeza and mother to the couple’s four grown children, Patricia, Enrique, Samuel and Anasofia, received her U.S. citizenship.

Baeza is from Chihuahua, Mexico, but has lived half of her life in the United States. She has lived in Texas and Washington, but for the past 25 years, she has called Wyoming home.

She and Alvaro, whom she met in Chihuahua, have been married for 26 years. About seven months ago, the couple began the application process for citizenship, but Alvaro is still waiting to learn whether his application has been approved. Regardless, he is happy for his wife and remains optimistic that he too will receive citizenship.

“We have confidence that it’s going to be okay. The thing is we don’t have anything to hide and worry about. Waiting is just part of the process,” he said. 

Regarding the process, Sofia said that the first step was to become a permanent resident, which she did a decade ago. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an immigrant may apply for naturalization if he or she is at least 18 years old, has been a lawful permanent resident for at least five years, can show that he or she has continuously resided in the U.S. during this time and is of good moral character. In addition, an applicant must be fluent in English, pass a civics test and take the Oath of Allegiance to the U.S.

Sofia and Alvaro both said that the civics test was especially difficult. The couple had to wait over seven months before they received an invitation to attend a test session in Casper. Both studied every day during this wait and memorized each of the 100 possible questions.

“By now, I’m pretty sure I know more about the history of the United States than you,” she said.

An applicant who takes the test is given 10 questions, randomly chosen from the 100. If the first six questions are answered correctly, the applicant passes, and the test ends early. Both Sofia and Alvaro accomplished this feat.

The couple also commented on the thoroughness of the interview. Alvaro said that the interviewer asked many personal questions. Sofia explained that this is done to ensure that an applicant has lived “a good life” and has conducted him or herself “the correct way” while in the country.

“The only thing we should have done differently was go through the process with a lawyer, but we didn’t want to do that because we don’t have a bad history,” Alvaro said.

On July 13, 200 individuals, including Sofia, gathered at Mount Rushmore to commemorate their naturalization. For the celebration, Sofia was also accompanied by Alvaro, Samuel, Anasofia and other family members.

According to Samuel, the sky was clear and sunny when they left town but turned misty and rainy as they neared their destination. The dreary weather persisted through most of the ceremony.

“You couldn’t even see the presidents’ heads,” he said.

However, at the end of the ceremony, a celebratory song was sung, and during the song, the fog lifted. Samuel said this was very symbolic. His sister also noted the change in the weather.

“The joy moved the clouds,” Anasofia said.

The whole family was greatly impressed by the ceremony. Officials, including park rangers and a judge, gave speeches. The new citizens also had an opportunity to address the crowd, sharing their names, their places of origin and their current residences. Among the other naturalized citizens and their families, the Baezas basked in the shared happiness.

“It was what a ceremony should be — something almost sacred,” Samuel said.

While the mood was positive, Samuel could not help but sense his mother’s somewhat bittersweet feeling.

“The sad part is that she kind of felt like she was betraying her old country because, at the end of the day, she’s picking up a flag and putting down another flag,” he said.

Thankfully, in his remarks, the judge acknowledged this feeling and how challenging it can be. Samuel said the judge’s words “spoke to (his mother’s) heart” and put her at ease.

According to Samuel, his mother earning her citizenship was yet one more example of her steadfastness.
“My mom has always been a very motivated and strong-headed individual,” he said.

In his interview with the News Letter Journal, Samuel also praised his mother for her selflessness. He said that she is always ready to help those who ask. He emphasized this characterization with a twist on a common saying.

“Others will give you a shirt. She’ll give you a house!” he said.

In addition to other family business ventures, which include farming in both Wyoming and Chihuahua, Sofia operates a carpet cleaning business called Cleaning with Kindness.

Samuel said that he initially thought the name of his mother’s business was a little bit silly but now sees it as fitting, given the kind of person she is.

While they are happy for Sofia, Samuel said that the family is still anxious for Alvaro to receive his citizenship too. He also said that other family members are at different stages of the application process and that knowing this caused him to feel slightly guilty during his mother’s naturalization.

“It doesn’t take away any of the happiness because I know how hard she worked for it,” he said.

Shortly after the Mount Rushmore ceremony, Sofia, Samuel, Enrique and Anasofia traveled to Mexico. Border agents asked the family for everyone’s nationality, and the Baezas were able to say that everyone in the vehicle was American. According to Anasofia, amidst a backdrop of increased anti-immigration rhetoric, her mother being able to claim American citizenship was a great relief.

“When she was a permanent resident, there was still that little thought in the back of your mind that maybe something could go wrong,” she said.
Despite the hot-button nature of the immigration debate, Sofia was clear in her interview with the News Letter Journal that this was not the motivating factor in pursuing citizenship. She said that her motivation was her children.

“I have lived here for half of my life. If you think about the future, my grandkids are going to be born here, so I want to spend the rest of my life close to my family,” she said.