Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on much in today’s politics, but the two came together to grant citizenship to Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, the Viscount of Gálvez who died over 200 years ago as a hero of the American Revolution.
He’s the eponym of Galveston, Texas, having led battles against the British at Pensacola and along the Gulf Coast.
Congress has only given “honorary” citizenship to seven people, including Winston Churchill and more prominent Revolutionary heroes like the Marquis de Lafayette and Count Casimir Pulaski.
Gálvez appears to be the first native Spanish-speaker to get the designation — at a time when the House hasn’t acted on Senate-passed immigration legislation, which includes a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants who came here illegally.
The House Judiciary Committee is set to act on the bill later this week.
