ABERDEEN — On Friday, 49 natives of 23 different countries were proud to be Americans.
“All of us here today are immigrants,” Jack Reed Sr. told immigrants from Yemen, the Philippines, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Korea, Ireland, Vietnam, Mexico, Tunisia, China, India, Cuba, Kosovo, Taiwan, Russia, Thailand, Belarus, West Africa, Bulgaria, Denmark and other places during a naturalization ceremony in U.S. District Court in Aberdeen. “Our government has not perished, and today you and I live in one nation under God.
“America is not always right,” he continued. “We sometimes make mistakes; all countries do. But the heart of America is right and we will do our part to keep it so.”
Referring to the U.S. Constitution, Reed, a businessman who formerly served as chairman of The Mississippi Economic Council and was a candidate for governor in 1987, added, “That”s a powerful guarantee that you and I have.”
“Americans do not ask you to give up, quit loving, your native land,” he reminded the new citizens. “This is your new country, just as it is mine. And your new love should be for the United States of America.
“More people want to immigrate (to the U.S.) than any other countries combined, because people rightly see America as a land of opportunity,” he concluded. “Our door is open, the lamp is burning in the windows and you are wonderfully welcomed to America, a land that immigrants before you each made great.”
“Be responsible with your citizenship,” U.S. District Judge Sharon Aycock told the immigrants. “Find a way to help, find a way to give back, find a way to volunteer and to serve. We want you here and to make a real contribution to us, because in that way we all benefit.”
“Be participants in your citizenship,” urged U.S. Chief District Judge Michael P. Mills, advising the new citizens to register to vote.
“This is very amazing,” Abigail Stewart said of becoming an American citizen. “This is one of the best things I”ve ever done in my life. There are millions and millions of people who would like to be in my place (as a new citizen). I”m so blessed.”
A native of the Philippines, Stewart, who resides in Bruce, has been in the United States since 2004.
“I”m so glad to be a citizen, because now I can vote too and I can help more people,” said Soledad Mendoza, a native of Mexico, who has lived in the United States since 1983 and works as an associate pastor at St. Christopher Catholic Church in Pontotoc.
“Today, I”m so happy to be a citizen of the United States and I say thank you to everybody,” said Adama Ngaide, a native of Mauritania in West Africa, who has been in America for 14 years and currently lives in Robinsonville.
Ngaide”s wife and three children still live in West Africa, but now he”ll be able to apply for a visa to bring them to the United States, where they likely will arrive in about six months.
“I love it,” he said of becoming a citizen. “You live free and this country is a big country. The U.S. helps everybody in the world. If any country has a problem, they go help. That”s why everybody wants to live here.”
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