Megha Parekh says she can only imagine what her life would have been like if her parents hadn’t emigrated to the United States.
The 31-year-old New Jersey native is certain of this: She wouldn’t have become vice president and general counsel for an NFL team if her parents had stayed in India.
The Jacksonville Jaguars executive discussed the impact her parents’ pursuit of the American dream has had on her life Thursday at a naturalization ceremony at the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse.
“The opportunities that have shaped my life would not have existed if my parents had stayed in India like their brothers and sisters did,” said Parekh, who moved to Jacksonville to work for the Jaguars in 2013.
Forty-eight people raised their right hands and took the U.S. citizenship oath last week during an event held in conjunction with Law Day, recognized annually on May 1.
The newest Americans in Northeast Florida are from Canada, Cuba, India, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea and 23 other countries across the globe.
The event marked the second time Parekh was the keynote speaker at a Jacksonville naturalization ceremony.
It was conducted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and presided over by U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Patricia Barksdale.
Parekh is responsible for oversight of the team’s legal matters, risk management, insurance, human resources and information technology.
Key projects she’s managed include working on Jaguars owner Shad Khan’s acquisition of the Fulham FC in England and the $63 million public-private funded improvements to EverBank Field, including the scoreboards.
At her young age and because she is a female, Parekh’s executive position with an NFL franchise is unique. And her boss is the only Pakistani immigrant who owns an NFL team.
“This is an incredible career opportunity for me … so I am thankful for my parents for doing what you did today, which is coming here and ultimately becoming citizens,” she told the new Americans.
A Harvard Law School graduate who worked for a prominent New York law firm before being hired in Jacksonville, Parekh said neither her nor her parents’ ethnicity was a factor when she was hired.
Nor should it be in America, she said.
“They didn’t really care very much where it was that I came from or who I was. What they cared about is that I worked really hard,” she said. “They thought I would come down and do a good job.”
Parekh said sports has historically provided her and other Americans an opportunity to connect with their communities. She cited as an example when Yankee Stadium in New York opened its doors for the first time two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
During pregame ceremonies, players joined police officers, firefighters and rescue personnel as a giant American flag covered the outfield.
“If you are rooting for the same team, it doesn’t matter who you are, where you are from, what are you are or if you are a man or a woman,” she said. “That creates an experience that at least for me has always mattered.”
Parekh said when she was a child, her parents continually emphasized the importance of seizing the opportunities that being an American provides.
“Still, as an immigrant, from time to time you may feel a little bit different than all of your neighbors who have different food on their dinner table every night and growing up with different things,” she said.
One by one, the candidates for citizenship stood from their seats in Courtroom 13A and introduced themselves, their home country and their new hometown.
“I think each of you will agree that Ms. Parekh personifies the American dream,” Barksdale told them.
Following a video of President Barack Obama welcoming the new citizens to America — “Always remember that in America no dream is impossible,” he said — the citizens were sworn in by Barksdale.
The oldest of the newest Americans is Luz Maria Vera Hughes, 80, of Mexico; the youngest is Shahir Azizi, 19, from Afghanistan.
Diana Gomez-Machin, smiling broadly and wiping away a tear, was warmly embraced by her husband, Raul Machin, as she left the courtroom.
“This is the American dream. This is what I came here for — a better life for our children and ourselves,” said Gomez-Machin, a 47-year-old native of Colombia.
Gomez-Machin’s beaming husband, a U.S. Navy veteran, said his wife has always gone out of her way to follow America’s rules and laws, and has encouraged her three kids to do the same.
The couple said many of their friends do not apply for U.S. citizenship because of fear they may not get through the testing and interview process.
There’s no need for them to worry, Gomez-Machin said.
“It’s easy,” she said, “if you prepare.”