Amy Taxin
It took nearly a decade and a federal lawsuit for U.S. Marine Corps veteran Hector Ocegueda to finally come home.
Following a conviction for intoxicated driving, he had been deported to Mexico, a country he left with his parents when he was a child. The 53-year-old has spent the past nine years living in Mexico but July 9, he became an American citizen — allowing him to return to his family in Southern California.
Judge Mark C. Scarsi thanked Ocegueda for his military service before administering the citizenship oath in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles.
“As one American citizen to a soon-to-be American citizen, I just wanted to thank you very much for that,” Scarsi told Ocegueda, who wore a mask decorated with images of his father and late brothers.
Afterward, Ocegu
