Posted on 05/20/2006 7:58:34 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
130 countries represented at ceremony
After waiting in messy traffic, enduring long lines and ending up in one of the worst seats in the house, Aurelia Gheletca had an excuse to be grumpy.
But as she filled in the little squares on a voter registration form for the first time and readied to wave her small American flag, the Anaheim woman was positively radiant.
"Today, my dream has come true," said Gheletca, 56, who left her native country of Romania nearly 16 years ago to find political and religious freedom. "I am so happy because I am finally an American."
Gheletca was among more than 7,000 immigrants to enter Fairplex in Pomona as a foreign citizen on Friday and leave as a new American.
During two separate ceremonies, people from about 130 countries crowded into a massive building to shed their ties to their homelands and become naturalized citizens.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Oswald Parada, who presided over the afternoon ceremony, congratulated the masses on their "new lives as American citizens" and urged them to contribute positively to society.
"By becoming citizens, you are saying you are committed to the principles this country stands for: freedom and democracy," Parada said, calling on the new citizens to vote, serve on juries when called and show tolerance to people of other races and faiths.
After thousands of voices recited the Oath of Allegiance in unison, cheers and little flags shot up across the vast crowd. President Bush welcomed the new citizens in a videotaped presentation just before "God Bless the USA" pumped through the loudspeakers.
(Excerpt) Read more at sgvtribune.com ...
The six countries most represented in Friday's ceremonies, in order, were Mexico, the Philippines, Iran, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea and El Salvador. Of the 7,062 people scheduled to participate, about 30 percent were from Mexico.
That's as true now as it was when my grandparents came here from Germany more than 100 years ago.
My company's web designer is Venezuelan. He moved his company here over the last 10 years, establishing new customers, etc. He could see the way things were going in Venezuela. He recently became a citizen, and I was asking him about the process and how he feels about the current "immigrant" movement. The thing he was angry about the most was the amount of money he had to spend on immigration attorneys for his family and company, and the illegals just had to walk across the border. I haven't seen posted any comment about the cost of legally immigrating versus the illegals.
Yes, it can be done the right way.
I am thrilled for every one of them.
The first two countries aren't surprising at all.
GOOD NEWS PING.
I am curious. Do you know from experience that it is not expensive to immigrate legally and become naturalized?
I worked for an immigration lawyer back in 1977, who processed applications for immigrants from India... Gujarat specifically... and I recall they needed to document they were bringing at least $40,000 into the country with them. I know that is not the cost of naturalization per se, but it was one requirement.
Yes.
Costs and/or terms of entry of course depend upon which "preference" you're eligible to use. A simple case like via marriage to a US citizen is not very expensive. Another example would be someone who has been here on a couple of L-1 visas, typically that was pretty easy altho' I've read recently that it has been abused. Other scenarios might be very different.
There seems to be great variance among individual cases.
Meanwhile across the street, several illegals were pointing and laughing at these suckers.
Why do it the hard way when (with a little patience) they'll all just be declared citizens?
Honor?
"Congratulations to every one of them, both for doing it the right way and for acknowledging the universal aspiration to be free."
Amen to that. They did it the right way and have earned their citizenship. I'm proud to welcome them to this country.
"Why do it the hard way when (with a little patience) they'll all just be declared citizens?"
Very true. Were I someone who had fought for years to win my citzenship the legal way, I'd be angry as hell at the Senate and the President for trying to give these criminals a pass and give them the same rights I earned simply because they've broken the law for long enough.
Congratulations to all of them.
I attended a similar ceremony in San Diego, for about 700
new citizens. A Rockwell moment with high enery, flags, patriotic singer - and tears of emotion.
Then, as the new citizens left the building, the paid Union
thugs grabbed at them with voter registration forms. It was
disgusting, as many of them looked embarrased by the demands.
It would be special to be in the room where a citizenship ceremony is going on.
It's noteworthy... and sad ... that we have thousands and thousands of comments on the forum re the illegal immigrants, yet barely 20 comments here to celebrate 7,000 people who have become new American citizens.
I honestly don't know what to make of it.
Congratulations and special respect, to the 7,000 immigrants to enter Fairplex in Pomona as a foreign citizen on Friday, and leave as a new American. Credit these new Americans for going through the proper legal American citizenship process, verses the thief crawling under the fence.
That's the way I like it!!! Good folks doing the right thing the right way. That kind of FAMILY VALUES is American!!
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