Brookline Firefighter Becomes US Citizen

BROOKLINE, MA —When David Luengas-Guayda was sworn in as a US citizen last month he was wearing a Brookline Firefighter uniform, a symbol of what prompted him to become a citizen. As he looked around at the some 500 others who were about to take the oath, he felt grateful and proud.

The 37-year-old was born and raised in Mexico City, earned a basketball scholarship to college, studied international business and held a high-paced corporate job before he met and married a woman from Brookline named Caitlin McHugh. He'd visited her hometown a couple times over the years, but the duo never expected to move to the US. And then they decided to have a family and reevaluated that plan.

Luengas-Guayda and his wife moved to Brookline from Mexico in 2015, with the hope of being closer to Caitlin's family and making sure their daughter, Amelia, who is now 3, had the best quality of life and opportunity.

He got a Green Card and thought about rejoining the corporate world, but with his limited English and the competitive nature of that line of work, he and his wife agreed he would take care of Amelia and work on his English. There was also something else that kept popping up in his thought.

His father used to be a police officer, and he'd admired him for that.

"I always wanted to do something to serve and protect people," he said. "It's in MY DNA."

With the support of his family, he took the civil service exam and was accepted into the fire academy. But that was just the beginning.

"It was real tough," he said.

The 14-week academy involved several written, physical and psychological tests. And then he had to take the State Exams.

"The academy wasn't easy," he said. "You gotta know what you're doing and love it. It's not for everyone."

But he graduated and joined the fire department in 2017 and has loved going to work ever since. There's something about the responsibility and the teamwork that feels bigger than himself.

"The feeling to help and protect the community is big. I can't describe the feeling. Everyone pursues the same goal and has a specific task working together to help others," he said. "I love it."

He sees the profession of firefighters as a proud one, and one he's proud to be part of.

Serving and protecting the people of Brookline, the town he has made his home, and having his daughter made him realize he needed to become an American citizen to participate even more. He's looking forward to contributing as a citizen in ways he couldn't as a Green Card holder.

He took the oath of allegiance on Dec. 12 to officially become a dual citizen of the United States and his home country of Mexico.

Luengas-Guayda wore his class A Brookline Firefighter uniform to the swearing-in ceremony, and swelled with pride as he looked at the others also swearing in and recognized that his situation was different from many of theirs.

He saw relief on many of their faces, because they were running from bad situations, and for them the swearing in represented security and opportunity.

"That was a big feeling. Like, wow, this was a real big deal," he said.

Although he wasn't running or struggling, it was important to him, too.

"I'm serving the country and my community and I want to be fully part of my community. As a Mexican and as a Latino I want to be a spokesman for the coming generations. I know it's really hard to get into the job, a lot of people want to be a police officer and a firefighter but if I can do it, they can do it."

He wants to be that mentor that shows it's possible to come from a different place and become part of your community.

"In these days you hear a lot about walls," he told Patch recently. "I really feel like a bridge. I'm feeling blessed."

Luengas-Guayda is thankful for the support of his fellow firefighters at Station 1 in Brookline Village and for that of his wife, he said.

"We are all so proud of him," said Caitlin McHugh Luengas-Guayda.

Photos of David in his uniform after taking the oath as well as David with his other main motivation, his daughter, Amalia: courtesy Caitlin McHugh