A process that spans years for many ended in joy this week as nearly 50 people officially became U.S. citizens in Springfield, Massachusetts.
48 citizens from 27 different countries took the Oath of Allegiance Monday at Western New England University.
Hosting a naturalization ceremony for the first time since 2018, the Moot Courtroom in the university’s law school was packed with the families and friends of the new Americans.
Overseen by the honorable Elizabeth Katz, a faculty member and judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, the ceremony featured natives of the Dominican Republic, Nepal, Zimbabwe and more.
“This is, indeed, a very special and proud day for you, your family and friends,” Katz said. “I am extraordinarily honored to be the first to welcome you as citizens of this great nation and official members of the American family.”
In less than an hour, they completed the Pledge of Allegiance and the Oath of Allegiance, after being briefed on some of the next steps they’ll be taking as official citizens.
One newly-minted citizen who changed her name was Raluca Theodora Heiser. A resident of Pittsfield since 2018, she told WAMC her first journey to the United States included time working as a ride operator in Wildwood, New Jersey two years prior.
Originally from Bucharest, Romania, she says she went on to save her money, did a bit of traveling, including a trip on the West Coast, married her American husband in 2020 and went about seeking her citizenship.
The pandemic got in the way, but with her citizenship papers and a small American flag in hand, she says it was all worth it.
“I think for everybody who’s going to the process, they just have to look forward and think about that, yes, it's a big and huge and a long wait … doing it, but to get to today and be able to vote and be able to live a normal life, it's so great,” she told WAMC. “It's so achievable.”
Turns out it was 48! pic.twitter.com/enqunJecYi
— James Paleologopoulos (@WAMC_J_Paleo) September 16, 2024
Joined by her husband as well as her mother-in-law, she said a trip to the Big E after the ceremony was in order.
Also celebrating with her spouse was Daniela Ferraro, originally from Ecuador. Initially, she says, she and her American husband lived overseas in another country.
But when the pandemic struck, they made the move to come stateside.
“It was a change, but not impossible. I mean … I have family and friends here and now, this is home, so it feels good - it feels good to be from many places at the same time,” she said.
Outside the ceremony, in addition to cake, some 30 law students were on hand to help register new voters.
While the ceremony was curated by U.S. Customs and the judge, Zelda Harris, dean of the School of Law, tells WAMC that hosting such a ceremony at WNEU again was a priority, after going on hiatus after 2018.
“Just walking into the room, seeing all of the applicants with all of their folders ready to go, with their American flag waving in their hand … with their families supporting them - you know the children, so many young people, they are witnessing their parents or their older siblings or their grandparents becoming citizens,” she said.
Harris also credits Professor Julie Steiner with helping make the ceremony happen. The director of the Institute for Legislative and Government Affairs, Steiner says the event was part of a broader participatory democracy series on campus, commemorating citizenship, voting rights and democratic engagement.
She adds that ceremonies like Monday’s celebrated the country’s immigrant legacy.
“This ceremony, it's both solemn and joyous at the same time,” Steiner said. “What's happening here is you have individuals who have put so much into becoming citizens, I mean, they've brought their courage, their background, their diversity, their belief in something larger than themselves. They've had struggles where they were at - they have all different backgrounds. They bring so much to our country and we are a country, all of us, of immigrants."
