Friday afternoon the line at the Citizenship and Immigration office in Oakland Park stretched the width of the parking garage. We took our place behind a man from the Dominican Republic. Hania was given a form - the last - to fill out for her new social security card.
About 1:15 the line started moving. Inside the building, Hania and I were separated; she to take a seat facing the stage, me to sit in one of the chairs on the side. Lean on Me flowed through speakers, followed by Proud To Be An American.
A woman walked around collecting green and blue passports. Another woman walked in front of our section and told a young man to remove his cap.
We all watched a montage of immigrant faces from the days of Ellis Island. Then the people in the middle were asked to stand when their country was called. There were 175 of them, we were told, representing 35 countries, from Australia to Vietnam. Haiti, to loud applause, contributed the most: 38. Colombia came in second with 24. Together, they took the oath of citizenship.
One of the men on the stage asked if there was anyone from the military present. The young man who had been asked to remove his cap stood up, wearing his cap.
We were all led in the Pledge of Allegiance by a man in a Marine uniform who said "for liberty and justice for all."
President Obama, in a video, welcomed the new citizens who, shortly after - in one of their first acts as Americans - were urged to sing the Lee Greenwood classic heard earlier. The lyrics were displayed on the screen that had just shown the president. A large man walked back and forth in front of the group, singing and waving a small American flag. Most of the new citizens, many of whom may have felt transplanted back to grade school, sang and waved their flags with him.
I wondered why, if government officials insisted on a singalong, they hadn't chosen America the Beautiful or even This Land Is Your Land. But then I decided that this was better than chants of "U-S-A!! U-S-A!! U-S-A!!"
