Andrus gets citizenship: 'I'm an American'

OAKLAND – Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus is now an American citizen.

Andrus, who is from Venezuela, was sworn in as a citizen of the United States in a ceremony in Dallas on Friday. Andrus flew back to Texas on Thursday, went through all the procedures Friday morning, including passing a citizenship test, and was back in Oakland that night.

“It has been a long day for me,” Andrus said. “I’m really happy, really blessed and really honored to be a citizen. The whole day went really well. They treated me really nice. They gave me some tough questions, but I really studied a lot the last week. But everything was amazing. I had fun there; they did the orientation, too. I’m an American.”

Andrus has been working toward this for several years. His wife, Cori, is a naturalized citizen and both of his children -- Elvis Emilio and Lucia Alessandra -- were born in the United States.

“I was really nervous,” Andrus said. “I was like, let me slow down. It’s a lot more nerve-racking than playing baseball. I never felt like this. Amazing day going through it, coming here when I was 15, a lot of memories came back. The journey has been amazing, today is a day always to remember.”

Andrus said the hardest part was passing the citizenship test. The toughest question was how many amendments there are to the Constitution, Andrus said. He was required to get six of 10 correct. He answered the first six right and was done.

“I studied really hard,” Andrus said. “It’s 27 [amendments]. After the first two-to-three questions [the administrator] said, 'I can tell you have been studying a lot.' I did prepare. I love learning about history and culture. I was really ready for the challenge.”

Andrus said he is still proud to be from Venezuela and plans to go back some day. But the country has been besieged by political and economic problems in the past. Andrus won’t forget his roots, but he's ready to embrace all that is involved in being an American citizen.

“I think I’m really into the history of the country and the immigration,” Andrus said. “I’m really into it, even two-to-three years ago. It doesn’t change anything, I always felt like an American. But I’m really glad to be an American. I was the only one in my house who wasn’t one.”