Maria Esther Mauricio's eyes shine as brightly as her hopes to become an American citizen do. The 62 year-old has lived here for the better part of her life, approximately 35 years.
"I don't remember exactly when I followed my sister over here, but I know I was in my twenties," she recalls.
Mauricio left Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico during the 1970s in search of a "better life and a brighter future," she says. She immediately moved in with her seamstress sister, where she helped out with mending and making clothes, working at times 16 to 20 hours a day.
Her sister has since died, but some things never change. The single Maria Mauricio still puts in some long days working at two jobs, a printing company during the day and with a cleaning crew at night. But it's worth it. She believes that somehow "it always has been".
Now she wants to give back, and by becoming a legalized part of this country, she believes she can.
"I want to be a citizen to show my appreciation to this country that has given me so much," she says. "I care about its people, and I can demonstrate that by exercising my right to vote, too."
A coalition of concerned organizations wants to help make her dream come true. Fuerza Hispana de Conroe, SEIU, NCI, NALEO, NCLR, UNIVISION and Neighborhood Centers’ Ripley House have helped her every step of the way, from covering the citizenship application fee to walking her through the paperwork.
Maria Esther Mauricio hopes to soon be claimed as a productive citizen by a country she has already spent the past 35 years pledging her allegiance to.