This Fourth of July, 99 immigrants from all over the world will celebrate the country’s birth and independence in Boston as brand new citizens.
“Congratulations, the newest citizens of our country!” Judge Nathaniel Gorton addressed the room of 99 citizens in the Moakley U.S. Courthouse following their Oath of Allegiance.
The U.S. District Court conducted a naturalization ceremony at the federal courthouse for the 99 applicants on the eve of Independence Day. The new citizens came from all over the world, and for a wide array of reasons, to take their oaths Wednesday.
Flavia Holmes, a Brazilian immigrant, said she and her husband spent 18 months waiting for her green card and another three waiting on citizenship, calling this a long-awaited and “very important day” for her.
“At first I only came to study here,” said Holmes, smiling at her husband Martin Holmes. “But then I met him. And a few years later, I went back to Brazil, came back here, and I got married and all of that.
“It’s my country now,” Holmes added, laughing.
Delroy McKenzie, an immigrant from Jamaica who came to the U.S. to join his wife, called citizenship a “great opportunity” for his family.
Judge Gorton addressed the aptness of becoming a citizen as the country honors its founding, noting that all citizens are welcomed into the promises and responsibilities laid out in the Declaration of Independence.
“Two hundred and forty-eight years ago today — yes, on July 3 1776 — the leaders of the 13 British colonies assembled in Philadelphia and voted to declare independence from the King of England,” Gorton said. “The next day, July 4, that declaration was published, with the unheard-of proposition that all persons are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights, such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Cleaves Bernardes, originally of Brazil, waited over 20 years to become a citizen but “always had faith it was going to happen.”
After he received his documents Wednesday, his 6-year-old daughter Myla waited for him with a sprawling hand-drawn banner and a huge smile.
Bernardes noted the importance of these documents, the “guarantee” he can stay and “freedom.” For the Fourth of July, he and his family will head out camping to celebrate.
“It’s very special,” Bernardes said, standing among his family and friends in the court hall. “It means a lot, now especially I have my family. So that means a lot.”
