Applicant Lifts His Cane Beside the Golden Door

Carlos Romero-Gaitan came into the world on Nov. 4, 1886, less than three weeks after the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor.

On Friday, clutching a small replica of the statue, the 101-year-old Watsonville resident was honored by federal immigration officials as the oldest applicant for legalization under the nation’s amnesty program.

“He’s weathered time better than Miss Liberty,” Harold Ezell, Western regional commissioner for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, said during a ceremony at the Hollywood legalization office.

Hard of hearing and leaning on a battered black cane for support, Romero-Gaitan said he decided to apply for citizenship at his advanced age in order to walk without fear. “I like to go out for my walks,” he said, “and I don’t want to be picked up by la migra. “

When he heard his grandfather’s explanation, Sevi Romero, 26, a food sales representative, rolled his eyes and shook his head. “We never let him out of the house,” Romero said, laughing. “It’s another one of his stories.”

A moment later, his eyes sparkling, the old man explained that he intended to use his new temporary residence card to return to Mexico and take up farming again. “I want to plant apples, oranges and pears,” he said.

Last month, as immigration officials crowded excitedly around him, Romero-Gaitan hobbled into the INS legalization office in Salinas to apply for amnesty. “We thought his age had to be a mistake,” said Mary Lujan, an INS examiner who interviewed Romero-Gaitan. “It amazed us that anyone that old would want to apply.”

Born in the town of San Pedro in the Mexican state of Jalisco, Romero-Gaitan worked briefly as a ranch hand on a wealthy estate. At 18, he journeyed north to the United States, spending a year as a railroad worker in California and Utah before returning home. “I was away from my family too long,” he recalled.

At 25, he bought his own ranch, raising cattle and horses and gaining a reputation as a man who knew how to mend the broken bones of animals. When family members began to drift north to the United States, Romero-Gaitan would have none of it, moving only as far as Guadalajara, where he and his wife, Celedonia, opened a tortilla stand.

It was only after she died that Romero-Gaitan, then 88, acquiesced and joined the rest of the family, who had by then established themselves in Salinas. On March 10, 1974, his son, Carlos Jr., met Romero-Gaitan in Tijuana and drove back toward San Ysidro. When they reached the border checkpoint, Romero-Gaitan was asleep in the back seat.

Border Patrol agents let the old man doze, and the family drove on to Salinas. “(Our) guys were asleep on that one,” Ezell said.

At home in Watsonville, Romero-Gaitan said, he reads the Bible, watches cowboy movies and boxing matches and attends the annual rodeo in Salinas. He has 5 children, 30 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren.

Calling Romero-Gaitan a “beautiful man,” Ezell gave him a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Then, in preparation for a weekend of pitching the final two months of the amnesty program, Ezell handed the old man his residence card and had him hold up a sign that read: “Thanks, America. Only 48 Days Remaining. Don’t Be Left Behind.”

With the ceremony finished, Romero-Gaitan waved to photographers, saying, “My heart is with all of you.” Then he put on his brown fedora and waited patiently for the men from la migra to take him to his next stop--Disneyland.