1,080 immigrants now U.S. citizens

An exciting day for these people and our country. 1,080 people from more than 100 countries sworn in at one time in Missouri. DP

By LYNN FRANEY, The Kansas City Star

kansascity.com: In western Missouri’s largest naturalization ceremony ever, 1,080 immigrants from more than 100 countries took the oath of citizenship Monday at Municipal Auditorium.

Usually, western Missouri’s naturalization ceremonies are held in courtrooms and involve about 50 or 60 new citizens. But a nationwide surge in citizenship applications last summer, some of it related to a hefty rise in the application fee, has led to crowded naturalization ceremonies this year across the country.

The Daughters of the American Revolution gave each new citizen a tiny U.S. flag to wave.

En masse, the applicants took an oath of allegiance to the United States.

Afterward, Linda Hardin Sehrt of the DAR urged the new citizens to be as proud of their new country as the group’s members are.

“Today, it becomes your America, your Constitution, your flag, your Bill of Rights,” she said.

When asked how he felt about taking the oath of citizenship on Monday, U.S. Army Specialist Yvan Galbeau, a 23-year-old native of Haiti, said “It’s cool. I get to vote this year.”

Maria Torres, 35, a native of Mexico who came to the United States 11 years ago for a better life, said she felt “muy, muy contenta,” or “very, very happy.”

In English, she added, “This is very important.”