Brownsville , Texas ( CNN ) -- Eulalia Garcia Maturey has outlived two husbands , her two children and decades of bygone immigration laws . At 101 , Maturey will become a U.S. citizen on the 101st anniversary of her crossing into the United States from Mexico . The naturalization ceremony will take place Tuesday afternoon in a federal courtroom in Brownsville , Texas , according to the Department of Homeland Security 's Citizenship and Immigration Services . Maturey described the feeling of becoming a citizen with one word : `` Libre , '' Spanish for `` free . '' And then in a feisty Spanish voice that makes it hard to believe she 's only 4-foot-7 , she explained why becoming a citizen at this late stage of her life is so important . `` I want to spend the rest of my days in this life living legally in the United States , '' Maturey told CNN this week . `` I was raised here , and I want to die here . '' Maturey also said she feels American in every way but knows that technically she 's not an American , at least not yet . Eulalia Maturey 's path to citizenship is a tale that captures the unusual way of life on the Texas-Mexico border . On October 12 , 1909 , Maturey was just a baby in her mother 's arms crossing the Rio Grande on a ferry boat from Matamoros , Mexico , into Brownsville , Texas . In those days , crossing the border was a simple routine . There were no border patrol agents , and checkpoints focused on customs and trade issues , according to Anthony Knopp , a history professor at the University of Texas at Brownsville specializing in U.S.-Mexico border relations . `` We were on the fringe back in those days , '' said Knopp . `` It was n't hard to cross the border . There was nobody looking to round people up and send them back to Mexico . '' Maturey and her single mother settled into a quiet life in Brownsville . Her mother earned money washing clothes , but she never met her father . Maturey dropped out of school after third grade . `` I did n't want to go anymore , '' Maturey said . So then she started helping her mother sift through the growing piles of laundry that needed to be washed and folded . Maturey married her first husband at 16 ; he died five years later . Shortly after , she married her second husband and had two children . In 1940 , Congress passed the World War II Alien Registration Act , which made it a federal crime to advocate overthrowing the government . But the law also required noncitizens already in the country to register with the government . Maturey did so along with millions of others in the United States . Just before the start of World War II , Maturey received a `` Certificate of Lawful Entry '' card from the U.S. government issued to her on April 4 , 1941 . She never imagined that little document would make it possible for her to become a U.S. citizen . She figured it came with an expiration date . For decades , Maturey did n't really know what her legal status was in the United States . She feared asking too many questions might get her deported . She crossed the border routinely to visit family in Mexico . Border agents rarely asked for any documentation and when they did , she simply called herself a U.S. citizen . Then in 2008 , the United States started requiring everyone to show a passport when crossing the border . Maturey knew she could n't take anymore chances ; it was time to find out once and for all where she stood . Maturey 's niece , Yolanda Ovalle , took her to the U.S . Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Brownsville , and that 's where they met Sheila Lucio , a 29-year veteran of the government agency . `` I fell in love with her . She 's real feisty , '' Lucio told CNN . When Lucio tried finding Eulalia Maturey 's name in the computer system , she could n't find it . `` If you came to us before we entered the computer age , we did n't have your records , '' said Lucio . So Maturey pulled out that 69-year-old `` Lawful Entry '' card . Her niece says she took care of that little piece of paper for decades . `` The permit is perfectly cared for , '' said Yolanda Ovalle . `` She 's a perfect lady . '' With that document , government officials were able to find her Legal Permanent Resident documents in the archives in Washington . `` We would never have been able to establish her registration status without that document , '' said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson , a public affairs officer with the U.S . Citizenship and Immigration Services . `` It would have been hard to prove . '' The paperwork is all squared away . Maturey passed the citizenship exam and now 101 years after that short ferry ride across the Rio Grande with her mother , Eulalia Maturey is set to become a citizen of the United States . It will be an emotional day for Maturey 's family , but they 've never seen her cry and they wonder if this will be the day they 'll see a tear . `` Quien sabe ? '' said Maturey . `` Who knows ? ''
Eulalia Garcia Maturey still had 69-year-old `` Lawful Entry '' card given to her in 1941 . In 1908 , Maturey was a baby when she crossed the Rio Grande into Brownsville , Texas . She lived there for several years before moving with her family back to Mexico City where they settled down and raised their children.