After 17 years of waiting, Moises Ricardo of Bristol is now a United States citizen.
His dream nearly vanished last December, when health problems and an immigration pause left his citizenship journey stalled just as he seemed close to the finish line.
Nine months ago, NBC Connecticut first shared Ricardo’s story.
At the time, he was recovering from emergency open-heart surgery and his application for citizenship was at a standstill.
On Thursday, Ricardo stood inside Bridgeport federal court on a much happier day.
He posed with his son, Marlon, after becoming a citizen during a naturalization ceremony.
“The emotion that I feel is something that I can’t even explain,” Marlon Ricardo Comejo said, translating for his father.
Ricardo first had to postpone his November citizenship exam because of the surgery.
He later got a new test date, but it was canceled amid President Trump’s immigration pause for 19 countries, including Cuba.
His son worked to get the case attention from Congressman John Larson, who described Ricardo earlier this year as “a law-abiding citizen who works hard and plays by the rules.”
That attention eventually led to an invitation from Larson to the Democrats’ People’s State of the Union.
A federal judge later overturned the immigration pause, and Ricardo’s case got back on track.
“When you have the reason on your side, you’re definitely going to get everything that you fight for,” Marlon said.
“Today, my dad is proof of hope for everybody out there.”
The family’s next hope is to help Marlon Ricardo Comejo become a U.S. citizen, too.
