‘We’re going to make our country better’: Scenes from a socially-distant citizenship ceremony
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Colorado’s newest Americans are celebrating their new citizenship in a different way than in years past.
On January 28, 12 men and women from eight different countries took their oaths of citizenship in a room at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Denver field office. They each came alone, without family or friends to cheer them on, wore masks, and sat in chairs spaced far apart, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Typically a ceremony like this in the past would have been 50 or 60 new citizens, with a room full of family and friends to celebrate,” said Andy Lambrecht, the director of the USCIS Denver field office. “We’ve been shifting to having our naturalization ceremonies in smaller groups.”
The newest citizens told Rocky Mountain PBS they wished their families could have joined them, but still felt proud to officially become Americans after the long and sometimes frustrating naturalization process.
Rob Adriaens came to the United States in 2014 from New Zealand for what he thought would be a one year “working holiday.”
“[I] met a lovely girl and ended up getting married six months later, and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.
Adriaens said he and his wife are expecting their first child and he is happy to be building a life in the U.S.
“You have such strong systems to preserve democracy in America, and I think it always wins at the end of the day. I’ve always had faith in this country, and I still do,” he said.
New citizen Mohammad Iftikhar grew up in India. He said as a young man he traveled through many countries on an old motorbike.
Now, as a bus driver, he gets to see the beauty of America from behind the wheel.
“It’s one of the finest places.. I have seen so many countries all over the world,” Iftikhar said. “It’s amazing.”
Lambrecht said swearing in new citizens is one of the best parts of his job because he is able to meet people who have often gone through so much to come to the United States.
“I know that moving forward now together as fellow Americans, we’re going to make our country better tomorrow than it is today,” he told the group during the ceremony.
LEARN MORE: USCIS Citizenship Resource Center