yanchong

While the nation continues to focus on illegal immigration as a controversial political issue, every Friday in New York City alone, approximately five hundred citizens from around the world officially become Americans after taking an oath at a brief ceremony run by the Department of Homeland Security. These naturalization ceremonies are conducted in a government office room at 26 Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan. At one recent event, photographed here, people from Albania, Antigua-Barbuda, ...

While the nation continues to focus on illegal immigration as a controversial political issue, every Friday in New York City alone, approximately five hundred citizens from around the world officially become Americans after taking an oath at a brief ceremony run by the Department of Homeland Security. These naturalization ceremonies are conducted in a government office room at 26 Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan. At one recent event, photographed here, people from Albania, Antigua-Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, The People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, The Republic of the Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kosovo, Liberia, Mali, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Sierra Leone, St. Kitts-Nevis, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Yemen became Americans.

PHOTOGRAPHS by Andrew Lichtenstein / facingchange.org

December 2010 – January 2011