ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Latin America give life to televised sports; invigorating its live broadcasts with colorful speech; offering replays, commentary, and entertainment programing. Players of all affiliations are subject to criticism and critique, and the sportscasters, who offer their opinions on big league events and small-scale games, represent different systems of thought, different perspectives, and different nationalities.

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico was home to Bilingual ESPN anchor Alfredo Lomeli until he was 6 years old. That's when Lomeli, who's widely recognized for hosting and producing the five-time Lone Star Emmy-winning magazine show Tu Estilo, based in San Antonio; for acting as a national correspondent for Univision's national morning show Despierta America; and for hosting the live international sports and entertainment program #Redes, which features social media trend-based content, made the trip to San Antonio with his parents.

"You're a kid, and so you don't want to leave, and you go the United States," Lomeli said in a sit-down interview with Latin Post in the lobby of the trendy Andaz hotel on Wall Street. "We came to Texas where we already had family, and it was definitively a lot harder for my parents than I gave them credit for. Now, I look back at my parents, and I admire them so much."

No, the Lomeli family didn't cross the river—they came over to the United States on a temporary visa but overstayed it so that they could continue living and working in the U.S. Lomeli described the fear that possessed the family from the time they arrived until seven years later, when they attained their permanent residency.

"It was a long process that was filled with uncertainty. I was young enough that I didn't grasp the seriousness of it, but I was old enough to understand that we were called 'illegal aliens' in the United States. You always have that fear of 'Oh my god, if my dad gets pulled over for accidentally running a stop sign, or for having a broken tail light, then that could be enough cause to get him deported.' That fear was always there," Lomeli said before switching to a lighter tone. "It doesn't mean that it got in the way our lives. It doesn't mean that we were a pouting family with no happiness. We were happy. Even as an illegal immigrant my father was able to make a living for us, and a very comfortable living, in fact. We didn't have all the new toys and everything, but it was a great life."

"We never felt like we didn't belong, but we knew that we had to watch our backs, more than a regular U.S. citizen," Lomeli said. "The last statistics that I checked said San Antonio has a 49 percent not-Latino population, but a 49 percent Mexican and Mexican American population, which is huge. That's one thing that helps you out," Lomeli said with a curt laugh. "If they're looking for undocumented immigrants, the cops and INS are used to seeing Mexicans everywhere. It definitely helps if they can't find you [in the crowd]."

The family arrived in the United Stated in 1992, and from then until 2000, Lomeli and his family were undocumented. On Jan. 20, 2000, Lomeli and his family were able to gain their permanent residency cards. The sportscaster described the feeling, saying, "It felt like the weight of the world was being lifted from my family's shoulders." Nonetheless, achieving citizenship was still a number of years away for Lomeli and his family.

"We got our permanent residency, and really from that point, it took five years to apply for naturalization, for citizenship. When I turned 21, I had mix-up with the law, but nothing bad or terrible, just at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong crowd. I was around people doing bad stuff, so I had to wait longer."

"You have to have a clean record as a permanent resident to apply for citizenship, so I waited. And, then, honestly, it was just a matter of gathering the money, because it's a very expensive process. It's $675 to apply, and it can't be credit card. It's has to be cash or money order or something of the sort," Lomeli said, exasperation apparent in his voice.

"And then, finally we did [have the money], then it took a couple of months, then you have to study a civics test. Then, you go, and you swear in, and that literally happened not too long ago. I'm happy that I can vote now, and that I'm a U.S. citizen. It feels like, finally. It's a very cool feeling."

National citizenship is not something that Lomeli takes lightly, recognizing the responsibility that being a U.S. citizen and a strong community citizen entails. He says it's important for those who are seeking citizenship not to be a stereotype.

"Don't be a statistic—the Latino that gets in trouble and makes all of us look bad. It's your responsibility to your family. Unless you're planning on going back to Mexico or wherever you're from, though chances are you're not if you're here in the U.S., you have to be responsible. You have to learn the culture."

Lomeli thinks that's tru even if it might be difficult "Many people say, 'What is the American culture? Everyone speaks Spanish, everyone speaks a different language,' and yes, that's true, but you have to assimilate yourself into the way of life. I know a lot of people who are so proud of where they're from that they refuse to accept that you have to speak English. I know a lot of people in San Antonio and Miami, where I have a lot of friends, and they refuse to speak English. It doesn't make sense. How do you come to the U.S. and refuse to learn the language and refuse to make something of yourself? It defeats the purpose of coming in the first place. Be proud of who you are, and where you're from, but realize why you've come and where you've come. Think, if every immigrant had that mentality [of assimilation], it would really eliminate the stigma that comes with being an immigrant."

Lomeli went on to explain that Latinos and immigrants are some of the hardest workers that you'll ever meet, but unfortunately people look at the bad more than the good.

"So, my advice to [fellow immigrants] is, don't give them a reason. Don't give them a reason to say 'this is why it shouldn't be easy for them to get their citizenship, even for DREAMers or the high school kids,'" said the sports journalist, who received a scholarship in classical music, but decided it wasn't for him despite it being a great experience.

He then went to community college and studied radio, television and film. "Be responsible, that's my main advice. You've got to do it for yourself, and you have got to do it for your family, who made the sacrifice to come here."

THIS IS PART I OF AN ONGOING SERIES ABOUT SPORTS ANCHOR ALFREDO LOMELI.

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