Happenings in the “hood”
By Colleen O’Connor
Immigrants and explorers have been coming to San Diego for centuries. One of the earliest was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who led the first European expedition to the west coast of the United States.
Historians believe he anchored his flagship, the San Salvador, on Point Loma’s east shore near the land that becomes Cabrillo National Monument.
It was the first contact between the coastal California Indigenous tribes, like the Kumeyaay, and men from Europe.
On Tuesday, dozens and dozens of vehicles made their way through the COVID inspired Immigration and Natural Services “drive-through” citizenship swearing-in ceremony.
All from their car windows.
First, the soon-to-be citizens were asked health screening questions, then drove onto another INS desk where agents inspected the requisite paperwork, and finally to the last section to take the oath for U.S. citizenship.
Quite efficient. Quite a happy event. And quite American.
After all, think of all the drive-ins, drive-throughs, and drive-ups that have sprouted in San Diego over the decades; Oscar’s drive-up hamburger stops; Midway and other popular drive-in theaters; and now all the COVID-friendly drive-throughs.
Welcome to America.
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The gold-thirsty Industrial-Age Spanish quickly conquered the Stone-and-Early-Metal-Age Native Americans, plundering and enslaving entire cities, putting their gays to torturous deaths and forcing Catholicism onto the survivors of slaughter-battles. Hundreds of years later, Mexicans, most of mixed Spanish and Native American blood, fought the USA, mostly Europeans, over California, New Mexico and Texas lands. The Mexican government lost and was generously paid for those lands. Now LatinX are taking back those lands. Si … definitely se pueden. More to come. Goodbye, California.