A grandfather’s heartwarming reaction to receiving his United States citizens passport has gone viral, with the man emotionally reacting to finally earning the documentation.
Granddaughter Brianna Valle, 19, shared the emotional moment on her Twitter of when her deaf 76-year-old grandfather Arnulfo Valle, who was born in Mexico but has lived in Watsonville, California for nearly 20 years, saw his passport for the first time.
‘My grandma laid out my grandpa’s citizen passport card on the table for him to see as soon as he got home. 76 years old and finally got his citizenship,’ Brianna tweeted on Saturday when sharing the video.
Celebration! Granddaughter Brianna Valle, 19, shared an emotional video of her grandpa
Emotional moment: The video showed Arnulfo Valle, 76, seeing his U.S. citizenship passport
Spreading the news: Brianna shared the heartwarming video on Twitter, and it quickly went viral with people reacting to the emotional clip
The video, filmed by Brianna’s grandmother, showed the man walking over to his desk where his passport was placed.
He whooped in excitement and sat down in his chair before kissing the papers.
Brianna told Today that her grandfather was born in Mexicali, Mexico, but has been living in Watsonville, California, for the last two decades.
She described her grandfather normally as ‘stoic’, but he lost all stoicism when celebrating the documentation, which took him nearly 19 years to earn.
‘It took my tata 19 years to finally get his citizenship,’ Brianna explained in another tweet following the viral reaction to the video. ‘Unfortunately, some families have to wait even longer, even if it’s just to become a resident. Be grateful guys.’
Arnulfo appeared overcome with emotion for finally earning the U.S. passport.
At one point, Arnulfo said in Spanish he thought he was ‘going to have a heart attack.’
The grandfather also reportedly felt ‘relief’ for earning the papers because ‘it was confirmation that he was a citizen,’ Brianna explained.
Shocked: At one point, he said in Spanish he thought he was ‘going to have a heart attack’
Love: Brianna shared her grandfather is typically ‘stoic’, but that all went out the window once he saw his papers for the first time
Adorable: ‘We all hugged and celebrated with him the next day when he came over,’ Brianna, pictured with her grandfather when younger, said
Heartbreaking: ‘It took my tata 19 years to finally get his citizenship,’ Brianna explained
Big moment: Brianna’s grandmother was the one who filmed the video of Arnulfo seeing his U.S. citizens passport for the first time
Earning the citizenship was made more stressful because Arnulfo had to turn in his green card when applying. So there were a several weeks when he had no documentation.
With the ICE raids happening in Mississippi, it concerned the grandfather he also could be sent back during those few weeks of waiting.
‘He watches the news and he was afraid,’ Brianna said.
People online congratulated the grandfather on earning his citizenship in the U.S., with some feeling heartbroken for how long it took the man to receive the papers.
‘Congratulations to him! To all of you! What a sweet man,’ one commenter wrote.
Another tweeted: ‘I’m so privileged to be born a citizen. I hate that it took him this long. I’m so happy he finally got it!’
But some wanted to know why no one went over to hug Arnulfo in the video while he was getting emotional over his citizenship.
‘By the way, it was only my nana in the room with my tata! She couldn’t get up to celebrate with him due to having trouble walking sometimes,’ Brianna explained in another tweet.
‘But believe me, we all hugged and celebrated with him the next day when he came over!’