California Angels great Rod Carew, originally from Panama, becomes U.S. citizen
Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Rod Carew is a newly minted American citizen at the age of 78. Carew, an 18-time MLB All-Star as a member of the Minnesota Twins and California Angels, was born in Gatún, Panama in 1945, moved to the U.S. as a teenager, and became an American sports legend. But it wasn’t until this week that he was officially recognized by his adopted country as one of its citizens. On Friday, Carew stood before family, friends and former teammates at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Field Office in Santa Ana, and took the Oath of Allegiance, vowing to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” MLB Hall-of-Famer takes the Oath of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony at the USCIS Field Office in Santa Ana on Aug. 23, 2024. (USCIS) With his new citizenship, Carew will, for the first time in his life, be able to experience some of the honors and responsibilities many Americans take for granted, including voting, serving on a jury, traveling with a U.S. passport