Emigres from 110 countries celebrate US citizenship in a Minneapolis ceremony the week of 9/11 remembrances. ...

Reflections as 1,100 new citizens get sworn in from 110 countries in Minneapolis



Last Tuesday I attended a ceremony in Minneapolis that resonated with me two days later, on the anniversary honoring the victims of 9/11. The latter was a memorial to the dead; the former was a celebration of everything possible.

On Tuesday, a Thai acquaintance of mine who has practiced medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, for more than 40 years became a US citizen. He decided he wanted the US to be his home for the rest of his life even though, now retired and well off, he could have easily returned home to Thailand.

I wanted to accompany him to see him become a citizen.

Perhaps like me, you’ve seen occasional newspaper and television coverage of swearing-in ceremonies for new citizens. This one was big—along with families and friends, 1,100 about-to-be-Americans filled an enormous hall in the Minneapolis convention center. The new citizens hailed from 110 countries, ranging from Switzerland to Rwanda to Pakistan and points in between.

I was not prepared for how emotional the experience would be for me as a mere observer. For the first time in years, I teared up at the singing of the national anthem and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. I was overwhelmed by the rainbow of people and national costumes in the crowd and the joy on their faces at the prospect of becoming full-fledged US citizens. Which is something, of course, that I take for granted by virtue of having been born in Cleveland of American parents.

All the clichéd promises of America at its best seemed to be present in that hall on Tuesday morning--the welcoming torch of the Statue of Liberty, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. And if I needed more than those 1,100 people to remind me of what a vast melting pot this country is, several 9/11 services recalled that among the thousands killed seven years ago were citizens of 95 countries.

That’s not something we hear about too often. I think that I and many other Americans tend to forget that folks from 94 other countries also lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of that day.

Just as it’s right to remember those victims, it’s also worth celebrating the men and women who became Americans in downtown Minneapolis last Tuesday. They showed by voting with their feet that as imperfect as our government may be at times, they still believe the US is a place to aspire to live.

As the district court judge who administered the oath of citizenship noted, in about two months, every American will have the right to vote for a new president. And no matter who wins, life will go on for most people as usual. There will be no tanks in the streets. And no one will lose their jobs.

One of our greatest freedoms is the freedom to travel. But Tuesday morning reminded me that there are people from all over the world willing to travel great distances in order to come to the US. I wish I could have known each individual’s story because I suspect there was a ready-made book about the journey that brought them to American citizenship.

I can tell you that as I read about and watched some of the memorial services that took place two days later, that ceremony in a Minneapolis auditorium helped remind me of the promise of this country.