Nearly 200 immigrants became United States citizens yesterday at the Naturalization Oath Ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The ceremony, which was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is one of the six Naturalization Oath Ceremonies the JFK Library hosts each year, granting citizenship to about 200 people each time.
Marianne Bowler, the United States Court Magistrate Judge for the Massachusetts District Court, presided over the event and spoke to the audience about the responsibilities of citizenship — including the obligation to vote and to attend jury duty.
The immigrants took an Oath of Allegiance, and as their friends and families watched, they filed to the front of the room to accept their certificates of naturalization. Each was presented also with a commemorative edition of the Inaugural Address of President John F. Kennedy and an American flag.
“Today is like a new beginning for me,” said Pierreline Zemon, 40, who immigrated to the United States from Haiti at the age of 17.
Like many others, Zemon said she came to the United States for new freedoms and a better life. In Haiti, she dropped out of school by the age of 13 and had no place to stay. The guidance and education she received in the United States allowed her to change her life, she said.
Zemon recently moved to North Hampton to continue her schooling and to pursue her dream of becoming a registered nurse.
“I’ll die here in America,” she said of the country she now considers home.
Kelechi Ekechukwu, who immigrated to the United States from Nigeria six years ago, was granted his citizenship today.
Like Zemon, he said he “came for the freedom here.”
Ekechukwu hired a lawyer to assist with the naturalization process, which took time and money, he said.
“I don’t think it came late,” he said of his citizenship, which took him a total of six years to attain. Ekechukwu said he knows immigrants who have waited even longer to gain citizenship.
Edward Jubin, 42, of Ghana, said the citizenship he received yesterday allows him a permanent home in “the land of opportunity.”
According an Oct. 23 New York Times article, President Bush’s 2001 vow to cut the average wait for citizenship to less than six months nationwide was not feasible. Although standard wait time has decreased in the past five years, many immigrants still face years of waiting before they are granted citizenship.
To become citizens, immigrants must pass the requirements of naturalization, including knowing how to read, write and speak English, have knowledge of U.S. history and government and “good moral character,” according to the Office of Immigration Services website. The process takes patience and can involve lots of paperwork, and some cases can become backlogged due to complications.
According the website, 22,685 residents of Massachusetts gained U.S. citizenship in 2005 — the majority from China, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, India and Vietnam.