University of Northern Iowa hosts naturalization ceremony for new citizens

Brazil. Iran. Sudan. Tanzania.

As United States immigration officers called out countries, more and more of the crowd gathered in the University of Northern Iowa Mauker Union ballroom stood up. There were 25 countries represented among the almost 70 immigrants attending their naturalization ceremony Friday, having come together to complete their journey to becoming a U.S. citizen.

Family, friends and members of the UNI community cheered as participants received their certificates of naturalization and shook hands with Judge Mark Roberts, who presided over the ceremony. Chance Amani, a 21-year-old from Tanzania celebrating her naturalization, said her little sister was watching in the crowd and she had more family waiting at home in Cedar Rapids to congratulate her.

“I’m so happy,” Amani said, clutching her documents and a small American flag.

During his remarks, Roberts said despite having the honor of presiding over several ceremonies like Friday’s every year, he still gets emotional when he gets to be the first person to tell candidates they are U.S. citizens. Every single person, the youngest being 20 years old and the oldest 74, should be proud of what they accomplished and aware of what it means to be a U.S. citizen, he said.

“We hear a lot these days about what rights we have, but maybe we don’t speak enough about what we owe,” Roberts said. “With the benefit of citizenship comes responsibility of citizenship.”

Those receiving their naturalization certificate Friday were led through the Oath of Allegiance, in which they renounced allegiance and fidelity to any foreign land and pledged to support and defend the U.S. Constitution and law and bear arms, participate in military service and “perform work of national importance under civilian direction” when required.

Other duties U.S. citizens are responsible for include paying taxes, voting for leaders whenever they have an opportunity and following the law, Roberts said.

This was the first in-person naturalization ceremony held at UNI since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, and university professor and political science department head Scott Peters said it was wonderful to invite people back again to celebrate together.

The ceremony was sponsored by the new UNI Center for Civic Education, Peters said, as it aligns with the center’s goals of enhancing civic education on campus, expanding public outreach and broadening civics education for K-12 students throughout the state.

Seeing all of the people come together for an occasion like this is “an amazing feeling,” Peters said, and it helps remind him not to take what he has for granted.

“I just feel privileged that I even have the opportunity to have a small part in this day that I know is so important for them,” Peters said.

Chelsea Galoni, an immigrant from Canada who earned her citizenship while her wife, daughter, mother and grandmother cheered from the crowd, said she’s been waiting 14 years for this moment. She moved to the U.S. in 2011 to pursue her PhD from Northwestern University and now works as a business professor at the University of Iowa.

During the ceremony, Galoni’s daughter ran about in an empty area between rows of seats, an American flag from her mother waving in her hand. Having her family right there to share in the special moment with was an important aspect of the ceremony that Galoni said she may have missed if it was online.

“There’s an element of humanity that happens when they’re in person that’s nice,” Galoni said.

Ramon Pellizzaro, who moved to the U.S. with his mother and sister from Brazil when he was 11 years old, has Galoni beat for waiting for this day to happen — 22 years. His sister completed her citizenship process during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pellizzaro said, and it felt less formal. Pellizzaro enjoyed having a special event to commemorate this milestone, as it is a big undertaking.

One of the reasons Pellizarro was able to stay in the country for as long as he did before becoming a citizen was his participation in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. He said the program allowed him to “create a life here,” leading to him meeting his wife and working as a data and analytics project manager at John Deere.

“It’s a good country,” Pellizzaro said. “Don’t take it for granted.”