LCpl. Julio Cesar Cisneros Alvarez

Fallen Valley Marine Becomes Citizen

FEBRUARY 10, 2005 - A fallen Valley Marine received a special honor from the government
Wednesday, becoming an American citizen.

It was a somber ceremony when U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Julio Cesar Cisneros Alvarez became a citizen at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service office in Harlingen.

Alvarez died a month ago in Iraq after being attacked by a rocket propelled grenade.

His mother and two brothers attended the special ceremony.

Martha Alvarez said that if her son were alive today he would feel proud and happy to have become an American citizen.

“I think that's what he always wanted,” said Marcos, Alvarez’s younger brother. “He always wanted to be that.”

Lance Cpl. Alvarez came to the Valley with his family from Mexico and settled in Mission when he was 20 years old.

Two years later he died in Iraq, but just a month after his death he becomes a citizen thanks to a federal law that expedites the process.

“This is a public law that was passed by Congress that makes aliens or non-citizens eligible for honorary United States citizenship if they are serving in the military during times of war and that they die,” said Alfonso De Leon, district director for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services.

Since the Iraqi war began, nearly 60 servicemen and servicewomen have received their citizenship.

“There's been 58 (citizenships) done for Afghanistan and Iraq and out of those 58, four were women, and out of the 58, seven were from the State of Texas, and out of those seven, two were from the Rio Grande Valley,” Alvarez said.

The first Valley serviceman to become a citizen was U.S. Army Pvt. Rey Cuervo, of Laguna Vista.

Cuervo died in late December 2003 after an explosive device hit his vehicle in Baghdad.


There are no extra benefits given to the families of a fallen serviceman or servicewoman after they've become an American citizen.