Anyela and James Isch took the next step in their lives on Friday at the Edgartown Courthouse, as Anyela was one of a dozen granted her citizenship in the U.S. as part of a naturalization ceremony.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the small courtroom, when 12 individuals from 11 different countries — including Brazil, Moldova, Jamaica, Thailand, and Argentina — all gained their citizenship.
Attendees of the ceremony were handed programs with the heading “Today, I am American”; miniature American flags were handed out to children and their families. Each new citizen passed in their former green cards, filled out the remaining paperwork, and closed the chapter on this process to open new doors in their lives.
For the Isch family, it wasn’t just a certificate. Friday’s ceremony also marked the day Anyela, who is originally from Venezuela, finally took her husband’s last name. They were told during their marriage process to wait until Anyela was a citizen to have her name officially changed.
The two met eight years ago in the Boston area, when Anyela was a server at a restaurant, when James introduced himself to her.
“She pronounced my last name right,” he said, adding that he was shocked because no one ever did on the first try. “We’ve been together since then.” They married six years ago.
During Friday’s ceremony, new citizens were urged to register as voters, which can be done by Oct. 26 at a local town or city hall in order to vote in the upcoming election. They were also given instructions on how to cement citizenship for their children if they were not born on U.S. soil.
The presiding judge, Judge James Lang, said that this was the first naturalization ceremony of his career, and he told of his own family’s path to the country. “All Americans are either immigrants themselves, or the descendents of immigrants … unless they are [indigenous or] Wampanoag,” he said. “These stories are what this country is all about.”
Judge Lang motioned to the dozen citizens seated before him to make the naturalization official: “It takes true courage to leave behind the country of one’s birth … to venture to new lands … to become a stranger in a strange land,” he said. “I admire your determination that is finally realized today.” He then encouraged those receiving their naturalization certificates to participate in positive community ventures, and to “shape our destiny as a country and help it live up to its name.”
Judge Lang invited each person one by one to receive a certificate of citizenship, and posed with them for photos.
The Isch family on Friday, with their baby resting on James’ knee, spoke of their excitement for the next phase of their lives.
“This means that we’re finally family,” Anyela Isch said. “We have the same last name.”
