POTUS attendsĀ a swearing-of-allegiance ceremony for 21 naturalized Americans, including several now serving in the armed forces.
POTUS returned to the East Room at 2:53 pm, where previously he had been host to the Dodgers, for a swearing-of-allegiance ceremony for 21 naturalized Americans, including several now serving in the armed forces.
This appears to be the first such ceremony in the White House since President Trump did a small one that turned out to be for the Republican National Convention, though that seemed to surprise those sworn in at the time.
The introduction on Friday was done by Tracy Reno, the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration. The new citizens came from 16 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to New Zealand. She swore them in, and the Sec. Of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, took the stage, described how his mother had been a political refugee twice, first from the Nazis, then from Cuba, where she brought the secretary as an infant. Ā
āToday our nation is better than it was yesterday,āā he said, āin part because we have new citizens. He introduced POTUS, who described his own ancestorsā trip to America in a coffin-ship in 1849, from Ireland, āhaving no idea whether they would make it across the Atlantic to the United States.ā
He then traced their move to Scranton. āAnd I stand here on the shoulders of sacrifices of my great great grandfather, my great grandfather, my grandfatherā¦āĀ
He repeated what he had said to the Dodgers, about how America was āfounded on an idea,āā and that āevery other nation in the world was founded on your geography, or ethnicity or religion.ā Ā Then he said āyou canāt define an American,āā describing the nationās diversity.Ā
He recalled swearing in new citizens, all members of the military, Ā in Saddam Husseinās palace in Baghdad. āI got to swear them in, in the palace of a dictator.ā Ā Then he talked about immigration reform, āsmart border management,ā and cited āVice President Harrisās leadership for getting into the root causes of why people are migrating.āĀ
āWe need an immigration system that reflects our values, and upholds our laws. We can do both,āā he said. He presented an award to a nurse from New York, Sandra Lindsay, an immigrant from Jamaica. He described her work saving patients at a hospital on Long Island, saying āshe poured her heart and soul into the workā of saving COVID-19 patients, while some of her own relatives died. And she was āthe first person in āAmerica to get fully vaccinated outside of clinical trials.ā Her scrubs will be in an exhibit about Covid at the Smithsonian, he announced.
They ended with the pledge of allegiance.Ā