‘An extraordinary occasion’ as more than 100 people become U.S. citizens at Joliet ceremony

Joliet — The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and U.S Rep. Lauren Underwood welcomed 104 new citizens to the U.S. at a naturalization ceremony at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet on Thursday.

After being led in the oath of citizenship by federal Judge Laura McNally, the new citizens were welcomed to the U.S. by Underwood, D-Naperville, who called the event “an extraordinary occasion.”

“Hosting this ceremony here today in our community is truly something special,” Underwood said, noting that this is the second year in a row Joliet has chosen to host such an event at the Rialto.

These ceremonies serve as “an important reminder that we are a nation of immigrants. That our country’s story is made of generations of immigrants who come from all over the world, immigrants have shaped our country’s history for the better and you are all part of that story now,” she said.

[ New PHOTOS: U.S. citizens sworn in at Joliet ceremony ]

Underwood proceeded to name all 34 countries the newly initiated citizens hailed from, with the individuals from said country standing to be acknowledged as each was called. The countries represented ranged from Brazil to Vietnam, with the largest groups coming from India and Mexico.

Our country’s story is made of generations of immigrants who come from all over the world, immigrants have shaped our country’s history for the better and you are all part of that story now."

—  U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood

“The diversity that we see here in this room is representative of the diversity that we see not only in this great country, but in our community,” Underwood said. “It is the diversity in this room that makes our community such a vibrant, welcoming and incredible place to live and we are so happy that you are here.”

After the ceremony, the new citizens were greeted with refreshments and a reception where they had the opportunity to pose for photos with their miniature American flags and documents.

The atmosphere in the room was one of joy, gratitude and relief as many of the individuals have lived in the U.S. for years and are officially joining family members as citizens.

“This means the world to me,” said Keren Annor-Yeboah, who moved to the U.S. five years ago from Ghana to be with her husband. “It means I can officially be here with my husband and two boys.”

“This is really a great honor to be a U.S. citizen,” said Nirmala Pillelemeri, who has been in the U.S. for more than 20 years. “I’m honored to be part of this country. Thank you for accepting me, and I’m really, really grateful to my husband, because of him, I am here today. If he was not here, I would not be here.”

“This means a great deal to me and my family,” said Rojelio Diaz, who has been in the U.S. since he was 2 years old and has been a legal resident for more than 30 years. He said he needed his wife’s encouragement to finally apply for citizenship.

“I’m here because of my wife. She was on me about it. It means I’m finally able to vote and I don’t have to look over my shoulder for [President Donald] Trump, and that’s a big relief,” Diaz said.

While many new citizens were joining family members who were already Americans, others were joining alongside their loved ones.

Husband and wife Anton and Oksana Kukharenko and their 10-year-old daughter Anhelina came to the U.S. from Ukraine seven years ago and all took the oath of citizenship together on Thursday.

“This is a big step for all of our family because we’ve been waiting for this moment since we arrived in the U.S.” Anton said. “We were thinking to become U.S. citizens since 2008 when we tried to enter the green card lottery, so it’s been a very long journey for us. You can just imagine what it means for us.”

“I’m really excited,” said Anhelina, who got to skip school in order to become an American like her little sister, who was born in the U.S.

In addition to gaining their citizenship papers, the new citizens also got to take the first step in exercising a core American right on Thursday courtesy of the South Suburban Immigration Project, which was offering the participants the opportunity to register to vote.

“It’s an awesome bow on the story to help our new citizens register to vote,” said Elizabeth Cervantes, the co-founder and director of organizing for SSIP.

“We help a lot of immigrants apply for citizenship and offer education and civics classes so many of these people here today were our students. This brings the whole process full circle,” she said.

Cervantes said that “it can be quite challenging” for new citizens to register to vote because they still are often learning how many government agencies work.

“The goal is to make the process less scary with our support,” she said. “We have forms in multiple languages and Spanish-language assistance, so we can help everyone enjoy all their new privileges and rights as citizens.”

Underwood encouraged the new citizens to participate in the democratic system in her remarks, urging them to get involved in their communities, to vote or even run for office. “That’s who we are as Americans and they heard that loud and clear,” she said.

Underwood also highlighted the importance of events welcoming immigrants into the U.S. in light of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants, which has seen both undocumented residents and foreign-born students with legal visas arrested and deported in recent months.

“In this moment where we’ve seen immigrants really be marginalized and demonized, and in many cases criminalized and viewed by suspicion and fear by Donald Trump and his administration, the energy in this room is the complete opposite,” Underwood said.

“It’s filled with joy and hope and unity and I think that my goal was for our new fellow Americans and their friends and family is to feel the warm welcome from the 14th district, where immigrants are welcome,” she said.