People from 50 countries are now U.S. citizens after an Independence Day ceremony in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. The event came amid escalating immigration enforcment policies and rhetoric.
Right after Kwabena Boakye-Yiadom was officially declared a citizen, he said he and his family were heading to a picnic. The 35-year-old Ghana native who lives in West Springfield said they'd eat celebratory hot dogs.
"The American way," he said.
Boakye-Yiadom said he’s relieved to have completed the path to citizenship.
“(But) I still feel for my brothers or other immigrants who are trying to go through the process, you know, the right way,” he said. “It is tough that now things are very complicated.”
Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Neiman, who swore in the group of more than 150 new citizens, said it's unfortunate that for many immigrants working in the U.S., citizenship is a distant dream.
“We must make sure, therefore -- especially now, when the public discourse about immigration has become so toxic -- that the ladder which you’ve been able to climb to arrive to this day is not pulled up behind you,” Neiman said in his speech.
Neiman said in an interview after the ceremony that the accomplishment of becoming a U.S. citizen should not be overshadowed by the ongoing political debate over immigration.
