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73 new citizens take U.S. oath
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · September 25, 2014


Haji Mughal moved to American in 2009 from Pakistan, following other family members who immigrated, and on Sept. 17 took an oath to renounce his allegiance to the country of his birth.


“And there’s more still coming,” he said.

Asked what he likes about America, he said the “justice” and “freedom of religion.”

What religion do you practice?

“Muslim,” he said.

Pakistan’s primary religion is Muslim, and the 63-year-old said he is free to practice his religion there. He’s just happy to have that freedom in America, too.

So what’s the difference? Why did you choose America over Pakistan?

“Peace,” he said.

The Waterloo resident was one of 73 candidates from 30 countries to become naturalized U.S. citizens last week at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, an event held in conjunction with Constitution Day.

“Each person has voluntarily come forward to state his or her own personal declaration of independence from all former allegiances and loyalties just as our forefathers did” more than 227 years ago, read a handout from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Celestina Monasterio came from Germany 23 years ago with her family when her mother married an American. Monasterio is now in her 30s, has lived in several U.S. states and said she considers America “my home.”

“I’ve lived most of my life here,” the Fairfield resident said, though she is married to a European man. “We like America. There is a lot of opportunity here, more space and more options.”

Becoming a naturalized citizen makes her living in America “more permanent,” and she looks forward to voting and having the chance to work for the government if she so chooses.

Hoover Library-Museum Director Thomas Schwartz noted in comments to the crowd gathered on the east lawn on the sunny afternoon that Hoover visited six of the seven continents in his 90-year life and saw “some of the most desolate areas of the world.”

And yet, Hoover remained “hopeful” of the kindness of humanity each time he returned to America,” Schwartz said.

“He had a belief in wide-open opportunity,” he said, adding that having a “free mind and spirit … is not a dream in America, it is an accomplishment. … Out of your 30 countries, you will all become one (here). May your free mind and spirit express itself.”

Jesus Perez of Davenport immigrated from Mexico with his family 10 years ago “for the American Dream.”

Historian James Truslow Adams popularized the term “American Dream” in his book, “Epic of America,” which was released in 1931, when Hoover was in office, describing it as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.”

Perez, 25, said he seeks “a good family, a good job” and the ability “to retire with dignity.”

He is the second oldest of four siblings yet the first to swear allegiance to the United States, though he has a sister going through the months- to years-long process now.

“Once we settled in and had a home and a life and a job, it was hard to move back” to Mexico, Perez said. “We’ve learned to love the United States and all the things we can achieve here.”

Perez runs machinery at Alcoa, earning $22 an hour.

“The pay is pretty good, the benefits are good, there’s a good union and the health care is pretty good,” he said. “I could see myself retiring there.”

Chief Magistrate Judge Jon S. Scoles, who oversaw the ninth annual naturalization ceremony at the Hoover Complex, said he often gets emotional when he gets to tell people that they have just become U.S. citizens, and doing it on Constitution Day makes it easy for them to remember when it happened.

Of the 30 countries represented, 14 came from Mexico, more than any other, with India coming in at No. 2 with seven, followed by the Philippines with six.

Other countries with multiple candidates: Pakistan 5, Sudan 4, Bosnia-Herzegovina 4, United Kingdom 3, Togo 3, Germany 2, Vietnam 2, Somalia 2, Kenya 2 and Canada 2.

Countries with a single candidate include: Costa Rica, Finland, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Burma, Honduras, Rwanda, Brazil, Bhutan (south of China), China, Burkina Faso (north of Ghana), Macedonia, Egypt, Laos, Indonesia and Yemen.

Elected officials who sent representatives to welcome and congratulate the new citizens included U.S. Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Tom Harkin (D), U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa City) and Bruce Braley (D-Grinnell). Also, a recording was played of President Obama also welcoming the new citizens.