America welcomes 144 new citizens today

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
America opened her arms to swear in 144 new citizens at the Naturalization Ceremony in U.S. Capitol today.

“From the birth of our nation, foreign born Americans have made an indelible impact on our society,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Deputy Director Michael Aytes told the group.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), whose grandfather arrived in America at the age of 16 from Sweden, urged the new citizens to read the U.S. Constitution.

“It is the basic document that keeps us free, she said. “Even though my ancestors and your ancestors did not participate in writing this constitution, you own this constitution as much as anyone whose family has been here for centuries.”

Lofgren said that the study of immigration in America is an interesting task because “ although we are a nation of immigrants, sometimes we have anxiety about our status as a nation of immigrants.” She said that if we ever wanted a symbol of what our country is, “I think it is President Obama” whose father was not an American, but yet “we have selected a man with vision, with skill” to lead us.

Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-La.), the first Vietnamese American to serve in the U.S. Congress, said that “arriving here, I, like many of you sitting here, did not know the language, did not know the culture.”

The hardships of a new life, forcing oneself to learn a new language, adapting to a new culture “calls for each and every one of us that energy and that strength that I believe the almighty God has endowed in each and every one of us,” Anh said, adding that naturalized citizens are not guests in America, “We are America.”

On a lighter note, Ahn said, “The first time I had a taste of American Pizza… Needless to say, I didn’t like it very much because it did not taste like rice.”