Antonio, a 43 year-old Mexican man who immigrated from Mexico, has been living in America for 28 years. He recently became a citizen and was able to vote in the 2008 presidential election. He reflected on his experience of being a citizens and being able to participate in the political process:
Yeah, I voted in the 2008 election, of course. That was a big election and I felt I should go vote since this was the first time I was able to vote for president. Other than that, I don’t tend to vote like for the little guys. Actually, I voted in the one that just happened, for the governor. That one was big and important so I voted. I don’t have too much time to follow politics, so yeah voting is only for the big ones like the president or the governor or mayor.
Later on in the interview, Antonip commented that he generally is not very interested in politics:
No, I am not very active in politics at all. I mean, I read the newspaper and everything, and we talk about it sometimes during dinner or when we watch the news, but it’s just not that important. I don’t care about some of the things, like gay marriage. I don’t care about gay marriage. They can do what they want I don’t care. I am too busy sometimes to care too much about politics, so talking about it is okay, but I don’t have the time to go into it and fight for this side or that side.”
