Still Coming To America

I had an uncle who was old school, in that he smoked unfiltered cigarettes, had lost 3 fingers in a combine accident, farmed and raised cattle, drank bourbon neat, and was wise to the ways of the world that people like him always are. When I was a kid, he only had 4 girls, and he seemed to take a special interest in me and my older brother, would let us drive the tractor when he shouldn’t have, that kind of stuff.

His great or great great grandparents had immigrated from Germany, and set up shop on a farm in Kansas. He talked about these immigrants, his grandparents, occasionally and always pointed out that it took a certain type of person to pack up from the old country, get on the ship, sail literally into the unknown. He thought it was some type of genetic predisposition that got these immigrants to America, and formed American character in a unique way. He and my aunt once came to New York so that he could go and see Ellis Island — he ended up having a heart attack in my living room instead, but he pulled through that fine, although I almost didn’t.

His theory always stuck with me. Farmers, with their close proximity to livestock, have a keen eye for genetic influences, and I like his theory, and think that he is right.

But, here is my point. The League of Women Voters provides volunteer Voter Registration Agents at Naturalization Ceremony’s, and I went to help register these newly minted citizens to vote, and the whole thing was fabulous.

It turns out that these are proceedings in Federal Court, and that a Federal Court Judge presides — it is a legal proceeding. Our judge was a United States Chief Magistrate Judge, and she was great. She opened court, gave a rousing speech about citizenship, the responsibility that citizens have. She introduced the representatives of the federal reps, the Congressmen and the Senators staffers who were in attendance.

One of her translation clerks gave a speech about what being an American means, what it has meant for him, what a huge responsibility it is, how their new citizenship affords them constitutionally protected rights. He urged them to become involved, especially in helping to bring some sanity to the immigration mess. It was a great point, and he was absolutely right.

There was a choir. Politicians on the campaign trail NEED to get more choirs. Any event you are planning is better with a choir. This one was great, and they did all of the things you would expect — The Star Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, and they were unbelievably good.

The Daughters of the American Revolution had representatives, the American Legion was there, The League of Women Voters were there. The County Clerk was there.

There were 192 new citizens. They were from 32 different countries, from Australia to Tanzania. The largest contingent was from Mexico. There were another 200 hundred people watching. They were thrilled. They cheered. I was thrilled. I cheered too. The choir sang. The judge administered the oath for new citizens. She then declared court over, and each new citizen got their documents, and packages — we had voter registration forms in the packets, which we helped them fill out.

We registered 132 out of 192, which was great.

These things are yet another example of how slothful we Americans are. These folks spent years, thousands of dollars, time, and effort, but they persevered, they became citizens. They believe in America, they believe in their ability to be an American. We should all take a lesson from them. My uncle made the point, that it takes a certain type of someone to pack up, to take the boat, or more likely, the plane, to say, I am going to America. We should all be more like them.