The Atlanta Braves stadium, where locals go to enjoy America’s favorite pastime, last Wednesday doubled as the host for the ceremony where U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services swore in its largest group of new citizens this year at a single event — each of whom also left with four tickets for that night’s game.
“What more fitting place than at a Major League Baseball stadium — baseball, apple pie and citizenry. We’ve sponsored this and hosted this for years and we’re honored and proud to do it,” John Schuerholz, the Braves president, told Global Atlanta.
Last year, USCIS conducted ceremonies in which a total of more than 17,000 people became new Americans in Georgia alone, but each year there’s a big nationwide push around Constitution Day, which celebrates the founding document of the United States on Sept. 17.
During that week, more than 36,000 people were slated to take the oath of citizenship around the country, providing a brief respite from heated headline rhetoric around immigration to celebrate hospitality and optimism.
Sitting beneath a bright sun in the box seats above the first-base dugout, with friends and family watching from the decks above, inductees raised their right hands and pledged to renounce allegiance to their countries of birth, support the U.S. constitution and commit to military service when required. Some beamed and repeated the words loudly. Others seemed to simply mutter the words, struggling over what for some were challenging English terms.
In true American style, they weren’t asked to completely check their heritage at the door. After a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and before the administration of the oath, each of the 93 countries represented was singled out, allowing candidates one last chance to cheer for their roots. Some, like Yemen and Zimbabwe, had just a handful of representatives. India and Mexico, the largest single country of origin, had more than 50 each.
Atlanta Braves bullpen coach Eddie Perez knows exactly how they feel: “relieved and emotional” with a sense of release after going through the tough application process, he told Global Atlanta.
Although he retains dual Venezuelan citizenship, the former catcher took that same very public step last year at a July 4 ceremony at Turner Field.
“I have no problem, because this is where I’m going to live for the rest of my life,” he said. He later led the new Americans in their first pledge of allegiance.
Organizers spoke in lofty terms with the new citizens about the privileges and obligations that come with their newfound freedoms and framed the festivities as momentous shifts that would change family trees for generations to come. Amid the 500 were refugees who had fled war and persecution to find new opportunity away from strife.
Still, while for many it was a celebration years in the making, for others naturalization seemed less about the ideal of America than pragmatism. A Senegalese woman who didn’t want to be identified told Global Atlanta that she did it mainly because her license was about to expire.
Kadida Tall’s joy was dampened a bit by concern over news that broke in her ancestral country just before the ceremony. While happy to be a new American, the Burkina Faso native found herself checking Facebook for updates from family on the coup that landed the West African nation’s prime minister in captivity last week.
While most of her extended family remains there, Ms. Tall now sees her future in the U.S. She’s married to a U.S. Army veteran she met an African hair braiding salon in Columbus, Ga. That’s where she lives and plans to stay with her husband, one young daughter and two stepchildren who couldn’t make the ceremony because they were in school.
Being part of changing families’ destinies is the most rewarding part of the job, USCIS Deputy District Director Joseph Kernan told families during the event.
“The oath that you have just taken is one that you will remember for the rest of your life. You have recited the words that have legally and emotionally transformed you into citizens into this great nation,” he said. “Soon enough, we’ll even give you a certificate of naturalization which will forever commemorate this day, and which I guarantee you your grandchildren and their grandchildren, decades and centuries from now, will look up in the national archives, so that they can gaze upon your photo and your application for naturalization to learn why you came to this land.”
The candidates’ countries of origin are: Afghanistan, Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina, Faso, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo-Kinshasa, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Czech, Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican, Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany , Ghana, Guatemala Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi, Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan , Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
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