Inside a classroom dominated by photos of colonial Mexico and a crisp Lone Star State flag, citizenship teachers whip through questions with their students.

WILLIAM DESHAZER/DMN

Claudia Morales of Dallas, with daughter Briana, gave encouragement to immigrants in a citizenship class last month at Casa Guanajuato in Dallas. Ms. Morales previously took the class on her way to becoming a citizen.

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"Have you ever been deported?" ask the instructors, Jacinta Hernandez and Juan Hernandez, who are not related.

"Have you ever been a habitual drunk? Have you ever married more than one person at a time?"

Irma Hampton, a native of Peru, is in the class for some remedial tutoring.

The Federal Express warehouse worker got so flustered in her oral interview with federal immigration officers that she went blank, flunked her test and had to try again.

Two weeks ago, she became a citizen.

Her reasons for seeking U.S. citizenship are simple: She loves her new country, and her U.S.-born husband believes his wife will have greater stability.

"My husband wants me to live here in ease," Mrs. Hampton said.

Ms. Hernandez, a naturalized citizen, and Mr. Hernandez use every tool at their disposal to inspire the students prepping for the naturalization test.

They've run mock polls on all the leading presidential candidates – with students voting 2-to-1 for Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton over Barack Obama. (Republican candidate John McCain didn't get many votes.)

Last month, the pair brought in former student Claudia Morales, now a citizen, to give a si-se-puede pep talk, a yes-you-can-do-it tutorial.

Ms. Hernandez uses herself as an example of how one can succeed.

Now a 50-year-old nurse, she came to the U.S. legally as a 16-year-old from the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.

Others are assisting in the citizenship drives, too.

Earlier this month, the American Immigration Lawyers Association sponsored a free workshop in Richardson to help legal immigrants with naturalization petitions. It was the second year that AILA chapters around the nation offered the Citizenship Day workshops.