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Raise your hand: Ceremony welcomes 74 new citizens
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · September 21, 2017
Gayflor Mulbah-Smith on Friday called it a “blessing” to raise her hand and take the oath of citizenship, officially earning a place among the U.S. population.
Mulbah-Smith stood among 74 people who renounced citizenship to 30 countries around the world during the 11th annual Naturalization Ceremony on the grounds of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, right outside the Hoover Library-Museum.
“It is a blessing for me,’ Mulbah-Smith, originally from Liberia, said. “The United States is the greatest country in the world. It is a great opportunity for me.”
She answered questions while filling out a voter registration card, saying she is taking classes at Hawkeye Community College toward an administration/business degree and living in Waterloo. She hopes to one day work in a government job, or at a bank.
Mulbah-Smith arrived in the United States Dec. 10, 2011, leaving behind the terrorist-plagued country.
“In America, you have the right, if you have not committed a crime, to move freely,” she said.
Because she landed a job, she could buy a car, something she was unable to do in the West African nation.
“When you’re not a criminal, you have the right to do anything in the U.S.,” she said.
She wants to vote, and would like a presidential candidate “who will do the right thing for people.”
“The country is civilized and could help (other countries) with peace,” she said.
Mulbah-Smith said she has “a lot of joy.”
“It is a privilege for me, a great honor for me, to be a U.S. citizen,” she said. “I bless God for everything.”
Juan Ramirez left Guatemala in 1999 seeking “freedom” and a job in America, he said.
“The (U.S.) government is better,” he said. “Everyone is equal to each other. That’s liberty.”
Speaking at times through a translator, he said he works in Waterloo at Tyson Foods in production.
“I make a good living,” he said.
He plans to sponsor his parents to join him in America.
The top three countries represented at Friday’s ceremony included: Mexico 15, India 6, and Canada and the Philippines with 5 each.
China and Boznia-Herzegovina each had four. Sudan, Congo-Kinshasa Liberia had three. Countries from where two new citizens came: Berma, United Kingdom, Guatemala, Vietnam, Buton and South Korea.
New citizens who were the only ones representing their country came from Pakistan, Congo, Honduras, Nepal, Thailand, Iraq, El Salvador, Israel, Kingdom of Bezonia, Nigeria, Russia, Haiti, Somalia and Kenya.
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge C.J. Williams oversaw the ceremony at the Hoover campus for the first time, replacing the retired Chief Magistrate Judge Jon S. Scoles.
Williams noted that the youngest new citizen was 19 years old from Kenya and the oldest was 66 years old from Liberia. The immigrants “came from every continent except Australia,” he added.
“Ours is a country of immigrants just like you,” the judge said, noting that some come to escape religious persecution and war.
Williams noted that, “normally, when two sides enter my courtroom, one of them leaves unhappy.”
“Today, everybody is leaving happy, and I like that very much,” he said.
The judge said naturalization ceremonies are “very emotional for me,” and that “the only title superior to that of ‘president’ is ‘U.S. citizen.’”
In the 10 previous naturalization ceremonies at the Hoover campus, 755 immigrants became citizens, according to the Hoover Library-Museum. With Friday’s ceremony, that number grew to 825.
The Hoover Presidential Foundation and Citizenship and Immigration Service also contribute to the event.
Library Director Thomas Schwartz gave the opening welcome and an overview of Hoover’s life. Deputy Clerk of Court Paul Coberly administered the Oath of Allegiance. The Extension Chords sang the National Anthem, God Bless America, America the Beautiful and An Irish Blessing.
Representatives of U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst and U.S. Reps. Dave Loebsack and Rod Blum read letters congratulating the new citizens on their accomplishment and encouraging them to vote and contact their offices with any concerns regarding federal agencies.
In past years, recorded messages from President George W. Bush and Barack Obama would also welcome and congratulate the new citizens. There was no message from President Donald Trump available for this ceremony.
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