Article Contributed on: 8/30/2007 4:58:51 PM
In front of an overflowing crowd of family, friends and those who mentored them, 11 people became United States citizens. The new citizens were all participants in the Littleton Immigrant Integration Initiative (LI3), in which people who wish to become citizens are paired with mentors from the community who help them study and get through the citizenship process.
The naturalization ceremony took place Aug. 30 at the Bemis Public Library where LI3 is headquartered.
After taking the Oath of Allegiance, the new citizens received their Naturalization Certificates, as well as handshakes and tearful hugs from
Alejandra Harguth, the coordinator of the program.
"I'm out of words," she said. "I hope this is the first of many ceremonies."
This is the first group from the program to become citizens.
Sharon Meyer, a retired teacher from Eugene Field Elementary School, mentored
Margarito Aguilar Hernandez. For three months, the two met for two hours a day, three days a week to get him ready for the test and interview.
"It was important for me to find a way to make him feel welcome," she said, before she and her husband posed for photos with Hernandez and his family. At the reception after the ceremony, they were all gathered around a table eating cake together.
"It's very nice today," Hernandez said.
One reason he wanted to become a citizen was so he could vote, Hernandez said, and he and many of the other new citizens filled out voter registration cards after the ceremony. Hernandez also wants to get his GED and go to college, he said, and see the Statue of Liberty and Mt. Rushmore.
LI3 is unique in its approach in integrating immigrants into the community, and Harguth said it's the mentors that make the program work.
"Without them, it's nothing," she said. "They were their crutch."
Editor's note: Click here to read more about the Littleton Immigrant Integration Initiative.