'City of Brotherly Love' Hosts Special Citizenship Ceremonies for Independence Day
On July 1, 26 new citizens from 19 countries joined the American family after taking the Oath of Allegiance from USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas in Independence National Historical Park. The park marks the location of where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were debated and adopted. This ceremony was one of three held in Philadelphia to celebrate Independence Day. A total of 102 adults and 13 children became new citizens at the Philadelphia ceremonies.
Director Mayorkas prepares to deliver a naturalization certificate, while Cindy MacLeod, Superintendent, Independence National Historical Park, offers her congratulations to the new citizen.
Army PFC Lafiette Trowers joins her fellow new citizens in taking the Oath of Allegiance.
A child happily watches the ceremony.
Labels: Citizenship
posted by USCIS Blog Team @ 4:38 PM
36 Comments
Subscribe in a reader
36 Comments:
USCIS,
Consider EB-3 India date movement, me and my family are stuck no career growth, my wife cannot work. what kind of mind you people have.
Please move EB-3 India date to as good as Eb-2 India.
I would like USCIS to feature some families that have been waiting in the EB line for years, sure there are more people in line then were naturalized this year.
I am now in the country for 9 years and no Green Card in sight.
Visa recapture, CIR, Yellow Card, accidentally make EB3 category current. What ever works for you.
Want to fix the depressed housing market? Fix immigration, we will start putting down roots, and buying homes.
The stories in the Beacon are all about people who benefited from USCIS and the pictures are all of smiling faces. I think USCIS does not want to see any crying faces or hear any stories of people who are in dire distress because of the faulty and irrational immigration policies.
This government is working hard for illegal entrants, but legal entrants waiting for green card is neglected in issuing / processing faster green card. If a person need to wait for 12 - 20 years of green card by employment, how do you expect people come and work legally in this country?
When a person holds decision of other's life, please don't play with it, our family, life, and career depends on your decision. Please consider issuing faster green card for all EB categories. Look at EB3 india and EB3 china, it is so pathetic long wait.
Please look at EB3 and EB2 movement, this is heart breaking for EB3 applicants. Why is that spill over not distributed uniformly? Labor category is not carefully studied when approving applications. Me and my college do same work, but on different category. When I see EB2 movement, my heart is literally crying and feeling more pain. Can't you guys use brain to implement a good logic? Please do something for EB3.
To all the EB3 complainers:
The quotas are set by Congress, not USCIS.
So, contact the Congressperson that represents the district where you live...
Hey JoeF - we know that USCIS is not a deciding on any rules, but they are contributor to the immigration team. They can input our (customer of USCIS) concerns. Looks like you are USCIS person responding to all our questions.
Thanks for these pictures from Philadelphia! I am planning a trip there soon and hope to see the statue you showed in your picture
@ July 12, 2010 10:55:00 AM EDT , k:
If you had been around for a while, you would know that I am active on several immigration forums.
I am not affiliated with CIS, or any other organization. I just happen to know a thing or two about this stuff.
And I've been in the process when you were probably still in highschool. The current delays are nothing new. That stuff happened in the late 90ies as well, even for ROW. We didn't whine about it, then, although we had to leave the country when our H1s ran out. There was no 7th+ year H1 at that time.
So, I suggest growing up a bit...
I feel sad when i see these pics. How much i wish if i would have been in US
I agree with retrogressed green card visas. What about HIB applications?. I applied on Dec 18 th 2009 received RFE and they received the response on April 5 th 2010 and NO DECISION YET
I am distressed and disappointed.
My whole life is revolving around this single decision.
If there is anybody reading this or listening this, i have a simple request, kindly make a decision fast, don't let any body wait for months and months............
These are very beautiful pictures. I feel glad to see these images. I wish if I would have been in US.
Consider where majority of your customers (that's right, PAYING customers) are coming from, USCIS. India and China green card lines are so severely retrogressed, that I have been in the US legally for 11 years with no green card in sight. And this type of situation is the rule rather than the exception. With that in mind, do you think the majority of your customer base cares about these so-called human angle stories that you keep publishing here to show your operations in a positive light? Who is supposed to take heart in these pictures? The ROW candidates who barely have to wait a year or two to become residents? The real story is not here, and you know it. Shame on you for not confronting your dysfunctional system. This blog is a sham, and it is only serving for you to pat yourselves on the back.
These are very beautiful pictures. I feel glad to see these images. I wish if I would have been in US.
Sorry to say. I don't care about such article, because majority of your customers are not happy with your case handling mechanism and processing speed.
---------------------------------------
At July 9, 2010 3:37:00 AM EDT , JoeF said...
To all the EB3 complainers:
The quotas are set by Congress, not USCIS.
So, contact the Congressperson that represents the district where you live...
-----------------------
I agree quota is not set by USCIS, but usage of unused visas is controlled by USCIS. To be fair to all those waiting in queue for a long time, the usage of these unused visas(spillover visas to avoid wastage) is not done the right way by USCIS. It should be used/applied to those who have the oldest priority date first. For example with the current methodology, it is applied to someone in EB2 with a priority date of 2006, while there are people under EB3 category waiting with priority date of 2002 for so many years. How fair is this? And am quite sure that this is decided by USCIS and can be changed to make a good impact to benefit all those older priority date cases. USCIS please think and change this to help us out...
Any one can answer:
In the history of UCSIS/INS Immigration- Was Visa Recapture done in past for any category? Yes or NO?
We should all be grateful to be living in a country that welcomes newcomers. After all this land was built by newcomers. The City of Brotherly Love is a perfect venue to have a ceremony like this. Last summer was my first time visiting Phili and to see the history makes Independence Day even more memorable for these lucky people
Jack
Certainly a heated topic. The one thing I know is that life is not fair especially when it comes to immigration. There are so many things that can cause snafus (gotcha's) with the process. To be an immigrant is to take a leap of faith. Most natural born Americans really have no idea of the struggle the people go through. I am a natural born American. Appreciate your citizenship everyday and know that many that deserve it will not obtain it.
What a wonderful event with so much potential for beautiful photojournalistic photographs! These pictures are lovely—I only wish I could experience something like this with my camera! I would love to see and capture the many expressions of joy these new fellow Americans must have felt on the day they finally became United States citizens. Thank you for sharing, and I hope those who are still waiting will take courage as they look forward to the day when they are able to claim US citizenship as well.
Only somebody who has never had to deal with US Immigration's backwards quota system could appreciate this.
REAL ACT ID in 2005 has made the changes to "Unused Visa" in the Immigration law????.
Elimination of the 10,000 annual limit for previously-approved asylees to adjust to permanent legal residence. This had been urged for years because the average asylee had a 17-year wait before he would be able to achieve legal resident status. As a result, in fiscal years 2005 and 2006, the backlog was greatly reduced as 147,131 asylees were granted legal permanent residence status.
Usage of 50,000 unused employment-based visas from 2003. This was a compromise between proponents who had earlier tried to include all employment visas which went unused between 2001 and 2004, and immigration restrictionists. They were used, mostly in fiscal year 2006, for Schedule A workers newly arrived mainly from the Philippines and India, rather than for adjustments of status cases like the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act.
Please some one from USCIS explain, if REAL ID ACT is true and it made two minor amendments to immigration law?
These are definitely great pictures.
However I was interested in a comment that "Anonymous" left on July 16.
Completely different point of view.
Of course, events like these are done purely for PR, but are the problems really as deep?
I had a lot of trouble with INS back in the day and things are not getting any better it seems.
I am sure Anonymous was surprised that his comment was approved...
Awesome pictures! If you want to know what the US is about, just look at these fantastic photos...
Actually, if you want to know what the US is about, learn the legal immigration policies and procedures, and look at the statistics on the wait times for backlogged countries. One "human angle" story is an anecdote. Statistics on the majority paint the true picture.
Awesome pictures. Especially that of the kid with her mother. Welcome people , i hope you will work hard to bring America once again on the success path
Philadelphia is still beautiful and wonderful my wife and I love visiting this beautiful city Philadelphia.
The pictures are great, but they bring little cheer to EB3-India.
To people like JoeF, you have no idea, even if you SAY you do. Go elsewhere with your lectures. We won't accept the long wait in this way.
Muslims demand and get a mosque at ground zero. Illegals demand and get amnesty. But what about the law abiding ordinary guys? Lectures?
These pictures remind me of the pictures when our family became american citizens. I was too young to remember being there, but I was told everyone was crying out of joy. After the struggle to get here and having to jump through all the hoops, who can blame them.
What a wonderful event with so much potential for beautiful photojournalistic photographs! These pictures are lovely. We won't accept the long wait in this way.
Why do you all seem to think EB-India whatever and H whatever are the only visas that exist for immigrants. There's a mentality among you that you contribute more to this country? Please don't insult the rest of us. I work in IT and if USCIS is really looking into who qualifies for those visas, 2/3 of you guys will not even have it. At least be happy for the people who finally got their citizenship. There's a soldier on the picture who is risking her life for this country and you should be happy that she had her citizenship. Her journey was 1000% more difficult than yours i am sure and if someone deserves it, it's her and not someone who never even worked in India, but managed to have some training and through some questionable means got a U.S work visa.
That is an example of a country that welcomes peoples from other countries. Some countries can´t be proud of that.
One of independence is very easy to feel is welcomed in a new place. This is real independence, friends, neighbors. Thanks. ~ Amerika Serikat
This so moving. I liked so much this post.
Thanks a lot.
What beautiful pictures! I went to Philadelphia for business about a year ago and did not have much of a chance to site see. These pics make me realize what I missed!
It is refreshing to see immigrants becoming citizens legally rather than coming in as illegals. I think the authors of our constitution would also be glad that the system is still being used today. I also think that they would have a much stronger policy when it comes to protecting our borders from those who would come in to do harm to American citizens.
That is an example of a country that welcomes people from other countries. Some countries can´t be proud of that. I still want to visit Philadelphia! Boston comes in 2nd.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home