This past week, I was privileged to witness the naturalization ceremony for Juan, who is part of the ministry team at our church. This was a first for me, and I didn’t quite know what to expect as I walked to the county courthouse.
First, the mandatory metal detector. Nervous petitioners, accompanied by friends and family, milled about outside the courtroom, speaking softly in Chinese, Vietnamese, Swahili, Spanish and English. Miniature American flags were in-hand, as cell phones captured snapshots of expectancy and joy. “This is my country.”
As the judge spoke to the new citizens, she recalled helping a relative prepare for his citizenship test. She joked that even with a law degree, she didn’t get all the prep questions correct. I tried the sample test myself, and while some questions were easy, (who is the current president?) those who are geographically challenged might struggle to answer, “Name one state that borders Canada,” a no-brainer for someone growing up in New York State. But I did stumble on this one: “The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.” No Google allowed!
The judge greeted each applicant for citizenship and conferred that designation upon them, asking if they wanted to say anything. Most demurred, while others shared words of gratitude. A few months earlier in a Cleveland courtroom, Indians’ first baseman Carlos Santana said it well: “I’m an American boy now.” Santana spoke for many new citizens when he said: “I was really scared when I came here [from the Dominican Republic] but now everything is positive and I’m happy and excited.” “I’m proud to be an American.”
Some immigrants don’t have to take a citizenship test or go through the naturalization process. I have two nephews who were born in South Korea, but I wasn’t sure how this worked. My sister explained that once an adoption by an American citizen is finalized, the child is automatically a citizen. However, she noted, for many years she had no “proof” of citizenship for her sons, choosing not to spend the $600 (now $1170) filing fee for a N-600 form for each child. Finally, the boys now have passports signifying their U.S. citizenship.
Recent chants of “send her back,” directed at U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a naturalized American citizen born in Somalia, haunt us in their sinister implication. Might we come to a time when citizenship wouldn’t matter? If congresswoman Ohar could be threatened by possible deportation, what might stop the same fear from descending on my nephews, my friend Juan, the Tribe’s first baseman, or on other citizens born outside our country’s borders? “God bless America . . . through the night with the light from above.”
When we lived in New Jersey, we took visiting family and friends into New York City to see its many sights. Our self-guided tour included the ferry to Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World has faithfully stood in welcome since 1886.
This week, Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, defended the Trump administration’s newest policy on limiting immigration, known as “public charge.” In doing so, he revised Emma Lazarus’ oft-quoted words etched on the statue’s base to his own: “Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public change.” With more time to compose his thoughts, he might have exchanged the poet’s plea to “send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me” as well. As former refugee and secretary of state Madeleine Albright wistfully commented, “I think the Statue of Liberty is weeping.” How much longer will she be able to faithfully lift her “lamp beside the golden door” in welcome?
Back to the Stark County courtroom. A final invitation from Judge Farmer brought us to our feet to join the fifteen new citizens in the Pledge of Allegiance. With a catch in our throats, we repeated the familiar benediction: “with liberty and justice for all.” “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty . . . let freedom ring.”
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