By Greta Solsaa/VTDigger
Twenty new citizens originally from 11 different countries took an Oath of Allegiance to the United States at a naturalization ceremony Tuesday, May 13, held in the gymnasium of Barstow Memorial School in Chittenden.
Among those naturalized in the ceremony was Steeve Valcourt, a musician originally from Haiti.
Valcourt, 42, said he toured around the country including Vermont as a musician playing reggae and Haitian music with his band Lakou Mizik for years, but settled in Woodstock to raise his daughter. Valcourt said he chose to make Vermont his home two years ago because of the sense of “peace” the state provides.
He said he feels “lighter” after being naturalized in the U.S. and is grateful for the opportunities and rights he has access to as a citizen. “The United States is made with immigrants,” he said, so it’s important for the U.S. to “open the doors for immigrants” so more people come to the country legally.
In remarks at the ceremony, Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss welcomed the new citizens and spoke to the importance of upholding the rule of law and actively engaging in the rights and responsibilities of citizens to protect democracy.
“The right to vote is endangered each time you fail to vote. The freedom of speech is threatened if you do not express your opinions and stand silent,” said Reiss. “It is also threatened when you do not tolerate the views of others and allow their speech to be violated. The rights of all citizens must be protected if you expect your own to be protected.”
Reiss also reflected on President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s address to Vermont at the State Dairy Festival in nearby Rutland 70 years prior in 1955, echoing his words for the ceremony attendees: “I know that Americans everywhere are the same, in their longing for peace, a peace that is characterized by justice, by consideration for others, by decency above all, by its insistence on respect for the individual human being.”
Elizabeth Bernstein, with the Vermont League of Women Voters and resident from Jericho, attended the ceremony to help new citizens register to vote and facilitate civic participation. Bernstein said the ceremony was an important reminder of the importance for citizens to uphold the rule of law. But, she said she is concerned with recent actions by the Executive Branch, which judges and lawyers spoke out about recently.
Susan Harritt, also with the Vermont League of Women Voters from Jericho, said she was heartened to hear Reiss’ remarks about the importance of immigrants to the country.
“The arrival of new people — the variety, the diversity of new people — makes this country richer. We benefit from the infusion of new views,” Harritt said.
Among the naturalized citizens was David Munro, who arrived from Canada with his family to take a job at Middlebury College as an associate economics professor.
Munro, 40 and a resident of Middlebury, said it was special to have the event set in an educational environment that gave children the opportunity to learn and be a part of a meaningful moment for many.
“I’m excited to be part of the voice that is working to uphold the law of the land and the Constitution,” Munro said.
Students from Barstow Memorial School shared poetry, music and helped facilitate the celebration of citizenship.
Christine Rogers, 60, said she emigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1986 after marrying an American soldier and having two children. Rogers has now made East Thetford her home and works as a housekeeper at a retirement home in Hanover, New Hampshire.
“I was crying, it was happy tears. It’s been a long time coming,” Rogers said. “I can vote and go to town meetings and voice my opinions.”
Valerie Frolova, a 29-year-old interior architectural designer based in Newfane, moved to the U.S. from Russia to study at Temple University. She said found that she resonated with the U.S. culture and people. She met her current husband while a student in Philadelphia and the couple eventually settled in Vermont, Frovola said.
Frovola said she wanted to mark her “long journey” toward naturalization but finds it difficult to celebrate because of the fraught political landscape regarding immigration and rights to free speech.
But, Frovola said she has faith in U.S. democracy and is excited to participate in the process to uphold rights and responsibilities of all as a citizen after making that promise alongside 19 others Tuesday.
“I think the U.S. had different turbulent moments throughout history, but it always made it out OK on the other side,” Frolova said. “Now, as a participating citizen and voting citizen, I can be a part of that change as well.”
