Saturday, September 23, 2000

Ceremony welcomes 90 new American citizens

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By Susan Vela
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        FORT MITCHELL — There were sighs of relief and smiles of joy Friday when 90 immigrants from all over the globe became new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony that broke Northern Kentucky records.

Brand-new Americans swear their allegiance to the United States at a naturalization ceremony Friday in Fort Mitchell. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        The group — including people from Ghana, Ivory Coast and Bosnia-Herzegovina — crowded a Drawbridge Inn and Convention Center conference room because no federal courtroom could accommodate them. It gave further testimony that the faces of Kentucky and the rest of the Tristate are changing.

        “It's a great honor to become a citizen of the United States,” said Angela Gumbs, 36, of Covington. Now a medical technician at St. Elizabeth Hospital North, she had attained all the education she could get on St. Kitts island in the West Indies when she left her homeland for Chicago and the University of Illinois campus there.

        “I'm very moved and very honored,” she said. “Now, I'm a citizen of a very great country.”

        About 940 immigrants, including Friday's group, have become new U.S. citizens in Kentucky this year. INS officials expect to naturalize another 270 before 2001 arrives.

        For the last three years, about 1,600 have been naturalized annually.

        “Kentucky has become a melting pot. We've caught up with the rest of the country,” said Roy Schremp, who heads the Louisville office of the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service.

        In Ohio, the naturalization rate has been about 7,000 a year. Mark Hansen, who heads the INS office in Cleveland, noted that roughly 25 percent of the immi grants are naturalized in Cincinnati, 25 percent Columbus and the remainder in Cleveland.

        For the entire Tristate, the number of new citizens has climbed steadily over the years, rising from 4,439 in 1988 to 7,909 in 1997. About 1.3 million became citizens nationwide last year, a record-breaking year, according to INS officials..

        Many naturalized Friday said becoming a citizen was one of their most rewarding experiences since arriving from their countries of origin.

        “At some point, you really have to condition yourself and (ask yourself), "Do you really want to become a citizen?' I wanted to for so many reasons — family, career, stability,” said Rey Crispino Cortes, a Filipino who has lived the last two years in Georgetown, Ky., north of Lexington.

        The Philippines was the nation most represented at Friday's ceremony. Ten men and women from that land became citizens. There were almost as many Mexicans, Chinese and Pakistanis. The rest were from about 40 other foreign lands, including China, Singapore, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Liberia, India, Canada and Argentina.

        Like the other new citizens, Mr. Cortes held a certificate declaring his citizenship and a small flag that he had been given. Many waved those flags and smiled broadly at their friends and relatives in the audience.

        U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman urged the new Americans to remember the words of John F. Kennedy: “"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.'”

        He also reminded them of what their new citizenship entails.

        “I hope to see you all as jurors someday,” the judge said.

       

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