Amherst oath ceremony Tuesday will confirm 31 new Americans

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Staff Writer

Published: 09-15-2023 10:07 AM

AMHERST — A naturalization oath ceremony that will welcome 31 new Americans from 22 countries will be held at the Jones Library on Tuesday morning.

The ceremony, with Judge Katherine A. Robertson of the U.S. District Court in Springfield presiding, is scheduled to take place in the Woodbury Room at 11 a.m.

This will be the first naturalization oath ceremony held at the library since the fall of 2021, when 21 people became citizens, and follows others in the region held this year, with 230 people becoming citizens at Bowker Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts in April, and 49 more at an annual Independence Day event in Northampton.

The 31 citizenship candidates expected on Tuesday come from Australia, Bhutan, Burma, Central African Republic, China, Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Greece, India, Italy, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Niger, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam.

Welcoming and congratulatory remarks will be provided by Lynne Weintraub, who has coordinated the library’s English as a Second Language program for almost 40 years, and where some new citizens in the past have honed their English skills.

Weintraub was instrumental in getting the library to host a naturalization oath ceremony in 2019, as well.

Town Council President Lynn Griesemer and Koby Gardner-Levine, district representative for U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, also are expected to speak.

For adults without previous schooling in the United States, the path to citizenship can take several months and sometimes a few years. Applicants submit a 10-page application, pay an application fee set at $725, go through an FBI criminal records check, and have a personal background interview in English at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

20 dispensaries statewide found to have products with mold, including in Pioneer Valley
St. Mary’s project faces skepticism at Northampton Planning Board meeting
River Valley Co-op denies Jewish Voice for Peace request to set up info table at Northampton, Easthampton stores
Change on march in sleepy Florence: New developments stir optimism, worries
Amherst town worker hired to take minutes says council violating Open Meeting Law
Weed grower suing neighbor Nourse Farms for $17M over pesticide drift that ruined crops

If the examiner determines the applicant can speak, read and write English, knows the fundamentals of American history and government, and meets the legal qualifications for citizenship, the prospective citizen is scheduled to participate in an oath ceremony.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>