U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas E. Morris must have observed apprehension on some of the faces Thursday morning when he walked into his courtroom in the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse.
“This is probably the happiest ceremony that occurs here in federal court,” he said to those gathered in Courtroom 13A after court was called to order.
In other court proceedings, “not everyone leaves here smiling.”
Morris was speaking to people who had completed their path to becoming naturalized American citizens, their families and friends.
Forty-eight new Americans were then certified as citizens and took the oath of citizenship administered by Morris.
“I continue to be amazed. We are a nation made up in large part from people who came from foreign countries. It matters not who you are, but that you strive to make this nation one that people will want to come to,” said Morris.
Managing Partner of Brennan Manna & Diamond and The Jacksonville Bar Association President Michael Freed greeted the new citizens in more than 20 of their native languages.
He shared his own story, that of being the grandson of immigrants, as well as some immigration statistics.
“The United States accepts more legal immigrants than all other countries combined and 60 million people – about one-fifth of our population – are immigrants or children of immigrants,” he said.
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