The Postponement

As I explained in a previous post, this year we applied to be citizens of the United States. For some unknown reason Alegna was approved for her oath ceremony a month before I was. I described my experiences as a spectator on that post, but today it was my turn to become a citizen.

The ceremony was mostly the same as the one I saw with Alegna. You could see that they have a script on how things should move. First they sit everyone on some predefined sections so when the time comes to hand you your certificate they know where to find you. This takes a long time. Today, there were 954 people getting their certificates. We got there at 10:30 AM and they were finally done with this process at 12 PM. The main difference between our ceremonies at this stage was the soundtrack. Someone put some effort in setting up the playlist for my ceremony. You could hear Don McLean's American Pie, Neil Diamond's Coming to America, Simon and Garfunkel's America many renditions of America the Beautiful and God Bless America and my personal favorite was the Animaniacs nations of the world song.

After that we heard some short speeches from the USCIS, Homeland Security and League of Women Voters representatives. Finally, the judge came in and we prepared for the oath. I cannot deny that saying the oath out loud is very different than just listening to it. I think the words are designed to evoke the seriousness of what you are doing. You are becoming a citizen of another country, this is a big deal. It was an emotional moment. Then we sat down and we heard a speech from the judge welcoming us as new citizens. I have to say that the only two times I have seen a judge in this country (both ceremonies), I have been very impressed by them. They have been charismatic and human, but you can also sense some sort of respectable aura that humbles you. This judge appropriately quoted one of my favorite thinkers, Alexis de Tocqueville about how the strength of the democratic institutions comes from the people from the bottom up. Unfortunately, I could not find the exact quote on Google to post it here.

Finally we did the pledge of allegiance, national anthem and all of a sudden I have a paper in my hands that says I am a citizen of the United States of America. The country of my children, the country that has given me plenty of opportunities to have a much better life than the one I would have been condemned to had I stayed in my own. Am I living the American dream? Every time I am mowing my lawn I somehow seem to think that I am.

I decided to register to vote so I filled the form and gave it to the nice women who were working there as volunteers. I also applied for my US passport. It was a little unnerving that they keep the original certificate. They said the would mail it in with my passport. Now I suddenly find myself without any kind of documentation that proves that I am a legal resident of this country. But then again, so does every American citizen.