More than 100 petitioners from 41 countries officially became U.S. citizens when they took their oath of allegiance at a naturalization ceremony held at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe Friday morning.
The ceremony took place in the Garden’s Nichols Hall, with close to 400 people attending, including family members who showed up to support their applicant’s becoming a U.S. citizen. Judge Amy St. Eve of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit administered the oath to the 136 applicants.
The petitioners, many of whom have been residents of the U.S. for years, were in a celebratory mood as they took pictures posing with their certificates and their family members and streamed the process to loved ones via phone calls and streaming apps. Many of them were also eager to participate in voting in the upcoming presidential election Nov. 5, which one new citizen saw as proof of “being a real American.”
Henry Munoz, the board director of the Chicago Botanic Garden, said the naturalization ceremony was special to him because he, too, was able to see his parents become U.S. citizens.
“The certificate that you get, my parents still have it in the bank lockbox because of how important it is,” Munoz said. “I remember it because (of) the self-sacrifice that all of you have done to better yourself, not only economically, but for your family and your future.”
Deputy District Director of U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services Carissa Sheffler said in her congratulatory remarks to the new citizens that they are now eligible to vote, and will need to register to do so.
“The exercise of your individual right to vote to choose our national, our state and our local leaders, is a fundamental freedom that we enjoy here in the United States,” she said.
Lake Bluff Village President Regis Charlot, himself an immigrant from France who became a U.S. citizen in 2008, spoke at the ceremony.
“We personalize the American dream. We are immigrants. Forward is the only way to us. We’re here to change the world,” Charlot said.
New citizen Valentyna Shkribliak, from Ukraine, said she became a citizen for the opportunities it brought. Shkribliak said she was looking forward to voting and “being a real American. We should be active; we should participate in each sphere of American life.”
New citizen Julio Zambrano, of Guatemala, has been living in the U.S. since 2013. He brought his wife and two kids, ages 20 and 4, to the ceremony. He, too, said it was important for him to contribute to the country by voting.
Although Zambrano said he doesn’t consider himself a political person, he saw the value in being a part of the process of electing a president and representatives throughout the ballot.
Karina Escobar, a new citizen from El Salvador, brought her husband and two children, ages 7 and 10 months, to the ceremony. She said she also doesn’t view herself as a political person but that she views voting as her duty to her new country.
Mai Abosen, a new citizen from Egypt, said her path to citizenship took a longer amount of time, after arriving in the U.S. in 2008. “It’s a dream come true after 15 years,” she said.
