by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
Forty-eight persons had breakfast Thursday as natives of 29 countries — Australia to Albania, Peru to Pakistan, Colombia to China.
They all had lunch as American citizens.
“I continue to be amazed at the breadth of all the countries in the world you come from,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas E. Morris told the applicants for citizenship.
Courtrooms are “not always happy places for participants,” he said, “but this is a joyful occasion.”
The applicants watched a video message from President George W. Bush and were later given envelopes with copies of the message inside.
The “grandest” of American ideals, Bush said, “is an unfolding promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, and that no insignificant person was ever born.
“Americans are generous and strong and decent not because we believe in ourselves but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves.”
Fifteen-year-old Jaymie Guillory sang “God Bless the U.S.A.” as another video of American landscapes and monuments rolled on a screen in the background.
It was “fitting” for the ceremony to be held in the U.S. Courthouse at Jacksonville during Law Week, said Jim Moseley Jr., president of the Jacksonville Bar Association, which sponsored the ceremony.
America, he said, is “more than a geographic location. It’s an idea that’s lasted many years. And that idea is that all persons are equal under the rule of law.”
Before she introduced the principal speaker, attorney Ada Hammond told the applicants that she, too, was a naturalized citizen. She was born in Cuba and came to this country when she was 5 years old. She arrived with the rest of her family, all of whom are now U.S. citizens.
Hammond encouraged the newest citizens “to embrace the traditions of your culture as you also embrace the American culture and all its traditions.”
The principal speaker, Dr. Alejandro A. Radi, welcomed the 48 applicants as the newest ingredients in “the great melting pot of America.”
“Appreciation and acceptance of people of different customs and cultures creates good will among citizens,” said Radi, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Colombia.
Their new nation grants citizenship to those who would “protect and defend” it in times of need, he said. In exchange, the new citizens acquire a host of new freedoms, including “freedom from fear, freedom to think and freedom to say what you think.”
By taking the oath of allegiance, “You have now acquired many rights and responsibilities,” said Radi. “Among them, you have the right to vote and the responsibility to exercise this right.”
Quite a few new citizens took Radi at his word as soon as the ceremony was over and registered to vote at a Supervisor of Elections table set up outside the courtroom.
In addition to copies of the president’s remarks, the new citizens received a copy of the Bill of Rights and American flag lapel pins, distributed by Wayne Foster and Robert Gelles of the Jacksonville Sertoma Breakfast Club.
Special flags were also presented to the oldest and youngest applicants. The oldest was Huan Danh Nguyen of Vietnam. The youngest was Jon Guanzon Doyle of the Philippines. The flags were provided by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Florida.