Thursday, July 06, 2006

50 Immigrants Become Americans At Ceremony

This tells about a swearing in ceremony for 50 new citizens; from Slovakia, Ghana, China, Peru, Lebanon and others. DP

New Citizens Talk About Helping Others And Learning English

By SARAH MISHKIN, Courant Staff Writer
Hartford Courant: MIDDLETOWN -- Fifty immigrants walked into city hall Friday afternoon and 50 new Americans walked out an hour later.

In a ceremony presided over by federal Judge Stefan Underhill, 50 men and women from 24 countries were sworn in as American citizens. Middletown holds naturalization ceremonies each year before Independence Day. Volunteers from the League of Women Voters were on hand after the ceremony to help the new citizens register to vote.

"Today you become people of the United States and so become the source of all power in our government," Underhill said at the ceremony. "Never shy away from questioning what your government is doing and to make it even better."

A number of the immigrants, most of whom were accompanied by camera-bearing family members, came from Eastern Europe. Others came from countries as diverse as Ghana, China, Peru and Lebanon.

Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

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