Friday, July 08, 2011

Celebrating the immigrants among us

An interesting opinion piece telling us some famous immigrants and how an immigrant becomes a citizen. - - Donna Poisl

By GREG CHASE | Guest columnist

Today we celebrate 235 years of freedom and independence. And, today many more will join our ranks. Alejandro Mayorkas, director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and himself a Cuban immigrant in 1960, has launched a federal initiative to raise awareness about the rights, responsibilities and importance of U.S. citizenship.

While citizenship ceremonies are held throughout the year and throughout the country, two ceremonies will be held today at significant historic sites. One will be at Ellis Island, where about 16 million immigrants arrived between January 1892 and November 1954. Another will take place at Saratoga National Historical Park, N.Y., where in the autumn of 1777 the American Army under Gen. Horatio Gates defeated the British Army under Gen. John Burgoyne.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

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