Hundreds take oath, become Americans

NAMPA, Idaho — An auditorium full of people from around the globe became Americans on Friday, taking the oath of citizenship at the state’s largest mass immigration ceremony.

Family and friends cheered as 304 new citizens crossed the stage at the packed Nampa Civic Center. U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams administered the swearing-in ceremony.

The newest Americans include an Air Force computer information specialist from Mexico, a gymnastics coach from Russia, a journalism student from Brazil and a construction worker from Bosnia.

Karina Grover is a 27-year-old mother of four from Venezuela, who lives with her husband in Blackfoot. She gasped with emotion as her name came over the loudspeakers and she collected her new citizenship papers.

Grover said she appreciates American rights and freedoms in a way few native-born Americans can.

“I know how hard it can be. My country is having a really hard time now. It’s really nice to have freedom and peace,” she said during an interview.

Republican Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, gave the keynote address, stressing that with freedom also comes “substantial responsibilities,” to care for family, to hold a job and to pay taxes.

“You also have a responsibility to be law-abiding citizens, because in this great country of ours, civility is created when we adhere to the law of the land,” Craig said. “It is part of what gives us our greatness, it is part of what gives us our community, it is part of what makes us what the rest of the world would like to be.”

Later, Craig said voting is the most important duty facing the new citizens.

“For the first time, they are getting to vote in a free election, many of them, in a free country,” Craig said. “That’s got to be key in their minds.”

That’s exactly what’s on the mind of Marina Bekker, a 21-year-old native of Brazil who now attends Boise State University as a journalism student.

Bekker opposes the war in Iraq and plans to vote for Democrat John Kerry on Nov. 2.

“I’ve lived here since I was 5 years old, and now to be able to vote and help with the election and have my voice heard I think it’s very important,” she said.

But many — if not most — of the people granted citizenship on Friday had more personal agendas.

Air Force Sgt. Martin Martinez, a 21-year-old native of Mexico and a computer information manger, has lived in California since he was 3 years old. He is stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base, but is restricted from some types of sensitive duties as a non-U.S. citizen.

Now he can obtain a higher level of security clearance, which is essential to his job and career.

“With citizenship, I will be able to go to Iraq, which is where I wanted to go. I can do the things that I signed up to do,” Martinez said.

Yuliya Hall is a 29-year-old gymnastics coach from Moscow, Russia. She lives in Idaho Falls and has been a resident of the United States for the past 12 years.

To her, citizenship is important because it will allow her to represent the United States at the tumbling world championships in Germany this October.

Osman Ponjevic, a 28-year-old construction worker from Bosnia, has lived in Meridian for the past six years. He’s looking forward to casting his first ballot in November, though he’s not sure whom he will vote for.

Still, his outlook on Friday — his first day as an American — was cheerily optimistic.

“I just hope everything is going to work well, and it ends up good,” he said.