On Friday afternoon, the Dukes County Superior Courthouse in Edgartown held a naturalization ceremony for 14 new U.S. citizens.
The ceremony was the first modern naturalization ceremony held on the Vineyard, according to federal immigration officials.
“There were different processes in the ’20s, the ’30s and the ’40s, and I can’t account for those,” said Denis Riordan, Boston district director for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “But going back through records into the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, up until today, there is no record of a naturalization ceremony here on Martha’s Vineyard … We’d love to [hold another here.]”
The ceremony was an emotional one for those getting their citizenship.
“[Gaining citizenship] feels great,” says Cape Cod resident Lyudmila Lewandowski, who emigrated from Bulgaria. “I have my freedom right now — I get to be there for my child, my family.”
Naturalization applicants sat in the center rows of the courthouse during the ceremony, with their family, friends, and handheld U.S. flags. Justice Elaine Buckley, an associate justice of Suffolk County Superior Court, faced the applicants while presiding over the ceremony.
The ceremony continued with the Oath of Allegiance, administered to applicants by Clerk of Court T. George Davis. Applicants renounced allegiance to foreign states, and pledged to defend the U.S. and its laws. They also vowed, when required by law, to bear arms and perform work of national importance for the U.S.
Throughout the ceremony, Justice Buckley offered words of recognition, commendation, and advice. “The journey of migration to another country is one of the most courageous acts an individual can take, and today we celebrate that courage,” Buckley said.
“As part of your oath today, you renounced the citizenship of your birth country, but do not renounce your culture,” she added. “You can shape the destiny of this country on a local, state, and national level. We ask that you cherish that power, that you exercise the right to vote, and do not take that power for granted.”
Riordan also addressed the room, praising the new citizens. “People think we give citizenship away, people think immigrants take,” Riordan said. “Immigrants give. We’re not giving you certificates. Immigrants earn them. You say goodbye to mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends. Many of you didn’t speak the language, but you came. When you came here, you worked hard.”
Applicants were then called one by one to receive naturalization certificates, some posing for photos and some tearing up.
Though the ceremony was the same for each new citizen, they all came with their own stories, and left with their own hopes. Hyannis resident Emerson Alves, from Brazil, came to the U.S. “because I believe in the Constitution, and want to vote in the next election.”
When asked why she sought citizenship, Lewandowski replied, “I like the country. I used to travel a lot, so I just ended up here … And I met my husband.” Lewandowski also looks forward to life as a citizen. “I’m looking forward to voting; I can’t wait … It’s a big change, but life just continues the same way.”
Edgartown resident Una McEntee, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, also looked forward to voting: “I come from Ireland, and the vote was very hard-won, especially for Catholics at the time when I was growing up in the Troubles, and hundreds and hundreds of years before that.”
When asked how she felt about receiving U.S. citizenship, McEntee replied, “Absolutely marvelous. It’s a long, long journey … Very, very proud. My family’s very, very proud. Unfortunately, they’re not here to share it with me — it’s bittersweet.”
“I was in academia for a long time, was supposed to get a job as a professor and things like that, and it didn’t happen,” she continued. “[The job] was given to a Protestant person. So my parents said to me, ‘Why don’t you take those pieces of paper [and] come to America?’ I’d been offered a job here … to manage the Kelley House in the Harbor View Hotel, back in 1994, and that’s what I did. I said goodbye to my family, my friends, all my culture, everything that I knew, and I guess the rest is history. Got married, have two children, and I live here. I have a home in Edgartown.”
The new citizens also reflected on the process leading up to the ceremony. “Even though you’re doing the right thing and have nothing to hide or lie about, you fear they are going to reject [you], or [that you won’t] be approved,” said Lewandowski. “But at the end of the day, it worked well as long as you did the right thing.”
“It’s long. It’s very involved,” said McEntee of the citizenship process, which she had been involved in since January. “But once you get to this step, it’s quite remarkable. It sort of just takes your breath away, the whole pomp and circumstance.”
