Twenty Connecticut residents become U.S. citizens
Groton — Days before the Memorial Day holiday, twenty Connecticut residents became U.S. citizens Friday during a special naturalization ceremony at the Historic Ship Nautilus and Submarine Force Museum.
The new citizens are a mix of service members and family members of those in the military.
After administering the Oath of Allegiance, Senior U.S. District Judge Warren Eginton promptly informed the 20 individuals that they can now register to vote, "and I hope that you will do that."
"We have a very important election (coming up). We aren't very good in off-year elections on our turnout. But in the years when the president is up for election, we are pretty good. We do turn out a pretty high volume. And I hope you will be part of that volume and exercise your rights as new citizens," Egington said.
Nicaurys Garcia, 22, who joined the Connecticut Army National Guard last year, is one of the 20 new citizens. Garcia was born in the Dominican Republic, and came with her family to Hartford around the age of 12. Her family came to the states for the opportunities here, Garcia said.
"It was really powerful. It was really emotional," Garcia, a private first class in the National Guard, said of the ceremony, which was also attended by her mother and baby brother.
Garcia, who lives in Hartford, joined the National Guard "for school, first of all" but also because "I love to help the nation."
Garcia earned her associate's degree last year and said she will start at the University of Connecticut in the spring of 2017 to pursue a Bachelor's in mechanical engineering. She's planning to stay in the National Guard for "at least 20 years."
Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than one million non-citizens have served in the military and become naturalized citizens, according to U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District.
The oath the 20 individuals took Friday was an important reminder for the rest of the country that "this still is the greatest nation on the face of the Earth," Courtney said. For the service members in the group, it was their second oath, after taking the oath to serve the country, so they had "doubled down on that message to the rest of us," Courtney said.
Capt. Paul Whitescarver, commanding officer of the Naval Submarine Base, said to the new citizens that they and their families may be suprised to hear that Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, considered to be the father of the nuclear Navy, was also a naturalized citizen. Rickover was born in Russian Poland, and emigrated at the age of six with his parents to Chicago, Illinois, according to Whitescarver.
"Through the service that you've rendered, the sacrifices that you've made and the committment you've shown, you were already part of America's story. A story forged by citizen and immigrant alike and a story resolutely written day by day," Whitescarver said.
Becoming a U.S. citizen wasn't the main reason Dominica-born Jamus Laudat, 22, joined the National Guard "but it was a benefit."
Dominica is an island country in the Caribbean. Like Garcia, Laudat came to the states with her family for the opportunities here. She lives in Bridgeport and is a private E-2 in the National Guard.
The newly minted citizen said she was happy that all of the paperwork is done.
j.bergman@theday.com
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