ST. CROIX — The District Court of the Virgin Islands held a special naturalization ceremony Wednesday on St. Croix for 33 new U.S. citizens from 14 countries since it fell during the month of March, which is when Virgin Islanders commemorate Transfer Day on March 31.
During the unique ceremony, the naturalized citizens exchanged a handheld flag from their birth country for a U.S. flag as part of a symbolic gesture that paid homage to the transfer of the former Danish West Indies to the United States on March 31, 1917.
“We’re calling this our Transfer Day naturalization ceremony,” Magistrate Judge Emile Henderson III, who conducted the ceremony, told the courtroom full of participants. “As you know, here in the U.S. Virgin Islands we commemorate Transfer Day.”
Henderson noted that on March 31, 1917, the Danish West Indies officially became the Virgin Islands of the United States with the handing off from the Danish flag to the U.S. flag. He said that transfer was like the naturalization ceremony, where the applicants exchanged the flag from their country of origin for a U.S. flag and became American citizens. He said the District Court wanted to incorporate the exchange of flags into the ceremony.
Henderson, who administered the oath of naturalization during the ceremony, urged the participants to register to vote and be a part of the election process, to be responsible when it comes time to participating in jury duty, and to retain their cultural identities while being law-abiding citizens.
“A lot of the joys that we have in this country have come from persons who were not born in this country,” he said. “Part of the American fabric is that it encompasses a plethora of different cultures, different languages, different people, and that is what makes our country so great.”
The naturalized citizens’ countries of origin are Cameroon, Germany, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Romania, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, Philippines, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Dominican Republic, and St. Lucia.
The naturalization ceremony was also special compared to those held every month on St. Thomas and every other month on St. Croix because high school students had an opportunity to experience it.
The District Court invited high school students from St. Croix Central High School, St. Croix Educational Complex and St. Joseph Catholic High School to witness the ceremony. The students watched it on a screen in the jury assembly room as the ceremony took place in a courtroom.
Chief Judge Robert Molloy addressed the students before the ceremony as he welcomed them to personally observe civics in action.
“I’m sure you’re aware of a lot of things going on politically in the Virgin Islands and as well in the United States about things surrounding immigration and deportation and things like that, but today what I want you to do is look at these individuals and their families, the ones who are going to be naturalized, and look at the pride in their face that they have made the decision,” he said. “They don't necessarily have to renounce their prior citizenship, but they’re going to make an oath, an affirmation, to uphold the laws of the United States of America.”
Keith Mildenberger, an immigration services officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, explained the naturalization process to the students. He discussed certain requirements such as a civics test. He asked the students some of the hard questions and received accurate answers, including that there are 435 voting members in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Mississippi River is one of the two longest rivers in the United States along with the Missouri River, and the first three words of the U.S. Constitution are “we the people.”
Janasee Sinclair, a volunteer speech teacher at St. Joseph Catholic High School, said it is a good idea to get students involved with civics activities happening in the community. She said many students did not know what happens during a naturalization ceremony.
“I think it’s important for them to know what it entails, and know the procedures because they live in the Virgin Islands, they are going to school, and as students, you should know everything
Two of the high school students, Nakai Theodore, 17, a senior at St. Joseph Catholic High School, and Makayla Walcott, 14, a freshman at CHS, participated in the ceremony. As the new citizens heard their names called, they stood up to receive a certificate and shake hands with Henderson, Mildenberger, and Rev. Jeremy Francis, of Friedensberg Moravian Church, who served as the guest speaker. Before receiving their certificates and shaking hands, the participants handed over the flag of their birth country to Theodore. They then received a U.S. flag from Walcott.
Theodore said after the ceremony that participating in it was a great experience. He said it reminded him of a graduation, noting all the hard work put in to become U.S. citizens by those who participated in the ceremony.
“They come to this country looking for something new,” he said. “They find something new, and they go through with it. So, it meant something to me.”
Walcott said it was important to her to be a part of the ceremony because she got to see the accomplishments of the participants.
“I didn’t expect it to have such an emotional impact on me,” she said. “But I just love seeing these people achieve and accomplish what they’ve been trying so hard to do. And I felt like for me to observe that and witness everything that they’ve been through, and finally see them get to the end, it made me happy.”
Yordy Valdez, of the Dominican Republic, became a U.S. citizen after going through the process for five years.
“You just had to stick with it and get through all the process,” he said. “The best part about it is that I became an American now.”
In addition to being the guest speaker, Francis supported his wife as she became a U.S. citizen during the ceremony. He kept his role as guest speaker a secret, surprising her when they arrived at the courtroom. While addressing the participants, he urged them to be aware of the times in which they are living, to stand up for what is right, and to contribute to their communities. He said one of the ways to build community is to look out for one another.
“And when we build community, when we stand for what is right, when we are aware of the times that we are living in, if we all did our little part, what a wonderful world this will be, and what a time to be alive,” he said. “If we took care of each other, these times would be a little bit easier to deal with. So perhaps, just perhaps, you have become an American citizen for such a time as this.”
