Thirty new Americans were sworn in at the county’s naturalization ceremony

The United States gained 30 new citizens at Delaware County’s 344th naturalization ceremony Wednesday evening at the Media Courthouse.

The newly minted Americans came from 15 countries, areas as diverse as the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica to the West African country of Guinea; the mountainous Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and its southern neighbor India; as well as the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Russia, Kazakhstan and others.

Judge Jack Whelan of the Common Pleas Court presided, assisted by Judges Margaret Amoroso, William Mackrides, Barry Dozor, Richard Cappelli, Dominic Pileggi, Anthony Scanlon and Deborah Krull.

The Delaware County Sheriff’s Department provided the color guard from Smith-Howard American Legion Post 93, and the invocation and closing prayer were given by Father Joseph McCaffrey of Our Lady of Peace.

Mary J. Walk, director of the Office of Judicial Support, performed the swearing-in ceremony, while Kate McDevitt of the Daughters of the American Revolution led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Constable Andrew Cappelli gave a reading of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech, and musical selections were performed by the Ridley Middle School choir.

Daily times Columnist Christine Flowers was the speaker at Wednesday’s ceremony. An attorney with more than 30 years of experience, Flowers specializes in immigration law at Joseph M. Rollo and Associates, although she said this was the first time she had actually attended a ceremony.

Flowers said she is usually in the audience or out in the hallway with a customer, making sure the paperwork is in order. Therefore, she knows only too well what those present needed to get to this moment.

“I don’t know you, but I think I know you,” she said. “I know what it means to come to a country where you may not speak the language very well or at all. I know what it means because I’ve had clients for 30 years who have done this, leaving a country, the only place you’ve ever known, with all your family members left behind, to try for a better one and to lead a different life in the future.”

Flowers said she practiced immigration law under five different presidents, starting with Bill Clinton.

While laws and policies can change from administration to administration, she said the things that remain constant are the reason those gathered in the courthouse’s ceremonial Courtroom 1 on Wednesday: Acceptance of Citizenship and What It Means to be American.

While everyone has traveled a different path to this point – whether because of love, the possession of extraordinary abilities or because they fled war or persecution and sought asylum here – Flowers said everyone now stands on the same footing as everyone else in America, they were granted the same protections and rights through a simple accident of birth.

“We often say that America is a melting pot, and I actually don’t like that expression,” Flowers said. “I like to imagine us as a mosaic. A mosaic is a beautiful image with discrete, tiny little pieces that are separate and beautiful in their own right. That’s what I think this country is. It’s a mosaic of all traditions and cultures and… your entire history, everything you bring here today becomes part of a larger tapestry, a larger mosaic of the United States. It makes us better, it makes us stronger, it makes us bigger.”

Rachael Kemmey, president of the Delaware County Bar Association, told oath participants that the ceremony was not just a formal practice but embodied the essence of what it means to belong to a nation and represented the culmination of a journey of devotion , hope and perseverance .

“Of all the duties I perform as president of the Bar, nothing is as rewarding or humbling as this honor,” she said. “What an incredible moment for you, your families and everyone who has supported and encouraged you along the way.”

But more than that, she said it serves as a reminder to those who witness that being an American means more than the place where a person is born, it is an adherence to and a commitment to the idea that all people are created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights.

Kemmey committed to answering all questions from the country’s new members about these rights and defending them. She said even if they sometimes feel like their voice as an individual seems too small to be heard or bring about change, they should still always speak up.

“Hold this moment in your heart and let it fuel passion for everything you do in the future as citizens of this great nation,” Kemmey said. “America is enriched by your citizenship and your decision here today. May God bless America.”