Welcome 'Home' to Our Newest U.S. Citizens

It was the perfect start to a July 4th holiday for 124 of America’s newest citizens during a special naturalization ceremony at Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth Thursday.

At the ceremony, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Field Office Director Anthony Violanti administered the Oath of Allegiance to citizenship candidates from 57 different countries. 

The ceremony was part of both the museum’s annual July 4th festivities as well as the USCIS’s annual Independence Day celebration.   In total, almost 8,000 candidates will become citizens at more than 100 special ceremonies across the country and world over the course of this week.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, addressed the group with the following remarks:

"I am honored to be here on the 4th of July with 125 new American citizens, hailing from 57 different countries, from Albania to Kenya to Vietnam.

I want to thank you for the choice you made to come to America. By making the United States your home, you will strengthen this country.  Your hard work will bolster our economy and create jobs. From this day forward you have the right and the duty to vote to elect our leaders, and your participation in our civic life will renew our democracy. You come from diverse cultures and this will enrich our cultural lives with the music, foods, and crafts you bring to your new country. America’s greatness always has come from being a nation of immigrants. This is as true today as it was at the founding of this nation 237 years ago. I thank you for all you and your children and grandchildren will contribute to making America an even greater country.

I also want to thank you for reminding me and others how truly lucky we are to be American citizens. Those of us who were born here sometimes forget how truly special it is to be a citizen of the United States. We take for granted the freedom of speech and freedom of religion we enjoy. We don’t often think about the fact these freedoms are not the law in most countries. In too many countries today one can be imprisoned for simply criticizing their government or persecuted for believing in a different faith, but not here. Here, we hold elections to choose our governmental leaders, peacefully transferring power from one political party to another. We resolve our political differences, however stark they may be, at the ballot box. No coups, no dictatorships. In America, as Abraham Lincoln said in his famous Gettysburg Address, we are a 'government of the people, by the people, for the people.'

During the recent debate on long overdue immigration reform in the U.S. Senate, it struck me, we are blessed to live in a country that people want to immigrate to.

My office handles hundreds of cases every year from people who come to us because they are trapped in the immigration system’s bureaucratic maze. One of them was Veldina Eminovic, who became a United States citizen here just minutes ago.

The current immigration system is broken and it must be fixed. 

The bipartisan immigration reform package I voted for last week addresses illegal immigration by strengthening border security and requiring all employers to use an electronic verification system to ensure no one is working here illegally. It resolves the long-festering problem of the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are already living in the United States by providing a tough and long but fair path to citizenship. DREAMers, the young people who were brought here as children, will have an opportunity to succeed and contribute to this country, the country they call home.  The Senate’s common sense immigration bill also reforms our broken visa system

I believe this is the right way forward.

It was important, I think, for the Senate to pass immigration reform before 4th of July, just as becoming citizens on 4th of July no doubt makes this great achievement even more meaningful for you.

In declaring our independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776, our forefathers wrote, '[w]e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed….'

It is your obligation now, the obligation all American citizens have, to ensure these precious rights remain secured. 

Congratulations to you and your families. Thank you for all the contributions you will make to strengthen this great country. And, Happy 4th of July."