Oath of Allegiance: 75 people to become US citizens at high school naturalization ceremony
The Oath of Allegiance will be administered to 75 citizenship candidates, including one Northport High School teacher, at a naturalization ceremony at the high school this Friday, February 14.
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Seventy-five citizenship candidates from 31 countries will take the Oath of Allegiance at Northport High School this Friday, February 14, marking – along with a similar event at Mineola High School on February 12 – the first time in over twenty years that a naturalization ceremony will be held onsite at a public school on Long Island.
At Northport High School, Judge James M. Wicks, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York, will administer the Oath of Allegiance to the 75 candidates, including Kiyolena Borch, a French teacher at the high school.
Hosting the naturalization ceremonies at both the Northport and Mineola high schools are “The Honorable Robert A. Katzmann Justice for All: Courts and the Community Initiative,” the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Judge Joseph F. Bianco, United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, will deliver keynote remarks, and student musicians will participate in the ceremonies at both high schools.
The last naturalization ceremony at Northport High School occurred in February 2001, when 33 children, ranging in age from 1 to 12, received their citizenship certificates in a cooperative effort between Project PATCH, the then Northport-East Northport School District’s nationally recognized model Law and Citizenship Education program, and district community service program Our Town 2000.
At Mineola High School, Judge Alan S. Trust, United States Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York, will administer the Oath of Allegiance to 50 citizenship candidates from 26 countries. The naturalization ceremony – the first for the high school – will be livestreamed across the Mineola school district so that students and teachers district-wide can watch the naturalization ceremony in real time.
Founded by then-Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann, “The Honorable Robert A. Katzmann Justice For All: Courts and the Community Initiative” is a civic education project of the federal courts of the Second Circuit with a mission to “increase public understanding of the role and operations of the courts and bring courts closer to the community.” For more information about Justice For All, visit justiceforall.ca2.uscourts.gov.
