September 23, 2012

• A Special Day

  This past Wednesday, I had a very special privilege.  I attended the swearing in of two hundred twenty-four new American citizens.  They came from 54 countries.

  It wasn’t much like I thought it would be.  I have always pictured a swearing in taking place in a beautiful formal room in the State Capitol, and some of them do happen like that.  This one didn’t.  It was in the auditorium of an old school building that was currently in use as an African American community center.  The building looked its age and then some.  It wasn’t a very fancy welcome for new citizens.  Nobody seemed to care much about that, though.

  Dan and I arrived about forty-five minutes early and the room was already crowded.  The first several rows were reserved for the new citizens with the back half to two thirds of the room already almost full of their friends and family.  The observers represented just about all races and ethnic groups.  Some were very dressed up and some were in worn jeans.  Many carried bouquets of flowers.  Anyone who arrived after us had to depend on the volunteers patrolling the isles to help them find seats because the area was very full.

  About half an hour before the scheduled start of the ceremony, a representative of the League of Women Voters approached the podium and told the candidates for citizenship that she was there to help them register to vote.  She explained the privilege of voting and told them that they should learn about the various candidates for office and come to an informed decision before voting.  Then registration forms were distributed to the candidates, a copy of the form was projected onto a large screen on the stage, and the speaker talked everyone through the process of filling out the form.  She instructed them to check the box declaring themselves as citizens of the United States because the forms would not be collected until after the swearing in.  That was when I started crying.  I really couldn’t tell you why, but the that instruction to mark the box indicating U.S. citizenship was very poignant for me.

  A few more minutes passed and then six people came out and took chairs that were waiting for them on the stage.  One of them, a woman, was introduced as a federal judge.  She took the podium and explained that she was chambered in St. Paul and had come to conduct the swearing in ceremony.  Then she declared court to be in session and asked the clerk to read the agenda for the day.  She instructed the candidates that they were about to renounce allegiance to their home country and asked them if they were doing that willingly.  She then told them that even though they were becoming citizens of a new country, they should not forget their homeland and their cultural heritage.

  I had always imagined that the names of the people becoming citizens would be announced, but they weren’t.  Instead, the court clerk told everyone that she was going to read the names of the countries of origin of the candidates and that they should stand when their country was read.  After a few minutes, a group of proud appearing very dressed up people stood facing the stage.  Some of them were in native dress, but most had worn typical American garb for the occasion.  When all were standing, the oath of citizenship was projected on the screen.  The judge asked the candidates to raise their right hands and repeat after her as she read it line by line.  When it was finished, the observers were invited to welcome the new citizens by applauding.

  Next, everyone was asked to stand and sing the Star Spangled Banner.  After that, we all recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  I cried through both of those.  Then there was a speaker who gave an account of her grandmother’s experience as an immigrant to the United States, and a representative of Immigration and Naturalization welcomed the new citizens. Then the judge adjourned the court.  It all took about half an hour.  For the new citizens, it was a monumental half hour.

  Dan and I went to find Harish, the new citizen we had come to support.   We teach adult basic education classes on Wednesday evenings.  Most of our students are working on the GED or preparing to go back to college, but we also work with candidates for citizenship.  When we started working with Harish, we told him that we wanted to attend his swearing in.  It was a wonderful privilege to share it!

  • 12:36 pm
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