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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

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IN RE:

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THE PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION
OF NEW CITIZENS - FEBRUARY 7, 2017

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TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
BEFORE THE HON. SARA L. ELLIS

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)
) Chicago, Illinois
) February 7, 2017
) 1:00 p.m.
)

APPEARANCES:
For U.S. Department
of Homeland Security:

Officer Michael Bokuniewicz
U.S. Citizenship & Immigration
Services, Chicago District Office

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PATRICK J. MULLEN
Official Court Reporter
United States District Court
219 South Dearborn Street, Room 1412
Chicago, Illinois 60604

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02:13:06

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please the Court, my name is David Bokuniewicz. I am an

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immigration services officer from the Chicago District Office

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of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, U.S.

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Department of Homeland Security. It is my privilege today to

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present to the Court 117 candidates for United States

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citizenship from 37 countries.

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02:13:42

officer of the United States Citizenship and Immigration
Service, and each has been found to meet all of the statutory

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requirements for naturalization. Each has resided in the

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United States as a permanent resident for the prescribed period

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of time. Each has been determined to be a person of good moral

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character, supportive of our Constitution and form of

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government, and well disposed to the good order and happiness

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of the United States.
Therefore, Your Honor, I respectfully move that this

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Court confer United States citizenship on each of these

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applicants for naturalization upon their taking the Oath of

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Allegiance as is required by law.

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02:14:13

Each of these candidates has been examined by an

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02:13:59

MR. BOKUNIEWICZ: Good afternoon, Your Honor. May it

THE COURT: Thank you very much. It's my pleasure to

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grant your motion, and the clerk is directed to spread of

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record the acceptance of these 117 applications for

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citizenship.

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MR. BOKUNIEWICZ: Thank you.

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02:14:58

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THE COURT: Thank you.

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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Sara

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Ellis, and I am a United States District Court judge who sits

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in this courthouse. It's my pleasure and my privilege to

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preside over these proceedings today. My clerk Rhonda Johnson

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usually administers all of the oaths that are given in my

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courtroom with the exception of one, and it's this one, the

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oath that I am going to administer to you today. 30 years ago,

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I took this very same oath. I am an immigrant just like you.

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Now, when I took the oath, I didn't have the

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opportunity to be in a courtroom like this one. I was with my

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brother and my sister in a very hot, cramped immigration office

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in Indianapolis. While the experience was not as majestic as

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this one, it was still very powerful and an experience that I

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remember to this day. I was moved by those words then, and I

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continue to be moved by those words 30 years later.

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Today is an important day for you and your families.

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I am thrilled to be a part of it. I take great pride in

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administering this oath myself. The oath that you are about to

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take is the same oath that I took 30 years ago, and it is the

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same oath that people such as you and I have taken for 200

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years. Taking this oath joins you with the millions of people

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who have said these same words to become United States citizens

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as well as the millions more who are going to repeat these

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words in the future to link their lives and share their

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are here today that want to share this proud moment with you,

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so if anybody would like to take photographs while I am

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administering the oath you are free to do so. I would ask any

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family members or friends that want to take photographs to come

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to the front, the well of the courtroom, to be able to take

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those photographs. So why don't you go ahead and come up now

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if any family members want to do that? If you are actually

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taking the oath, don't come up, but if you are not taking the

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oath and you want to take a photograph, come on up.
(Brief pause.)

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THE COURT: All right. So for those of you who are

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taking the oath, I just have a few instructions. Ideally, I

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would do this one person at a time. But with 117 people we

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would be here all day. So I'm going to ask that you repeat the

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oath and say all of its parts with me. When I say "I," I want

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you to repeat "I" and then say your own name loud and clear.

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If it were 30 years ago, I would say "I, Sara Ellis," but I

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have already taken the oath, so you are going to say your name

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loudly and proudly.

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I know that many of you have family and friends who

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experiences with yours.

So I would ask those of you that are being sworn,

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please stand and raise your right hand. I, state your name,

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hereby declare on oath that I absolutely and entirely renounce

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and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince,

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potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have

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heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and

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defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of

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America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will

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bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear

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arms on behalf of the United States when required by law; that

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I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the

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United States when required by the law; that I will perform

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work of national importance under civilian direction when

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required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely

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without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, so help

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me God.

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declare you to be citizens of the United States of America.
(Applause.)
THE COURT: So you can all be seated for a moment, and

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I will allow you to take more photographs at the end. The

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students that are behind me and in the jury box are students

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from a school up on the north side of the city called Northside

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Catholic Academy, and the students have created welcome cards

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for each of you as well as signs because they want to welcome

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you to America.

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02:21:49

By the authority vested in this Court, I hereby

When I took this oath, one of the phrases that had

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concerned me was renouncing my allegiance to my country. What

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the immigration officer explained to me at the time and what's

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true today is that you are not renouncing the love that you

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have for the country from which you came. You can still revere

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your country's traditions, its food, its language, its culture,

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and its customs. Everything that you love and hold dear about

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your country, you can continue to love and hold dear.

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loving another country, different traditions and customs, maybe

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even a different language, but this now is your home. This is

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where you are going to make your future. So you shouldn't

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worry about renouncing your allegiance to your old country

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because you have a new country that welcomes everything you

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bring from your old country.

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Now, I know that over the last year, certainly the

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last few months, things have happened in this country that

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might cause you to wonder about the values that are American

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values and the mission of this country. There are very

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negatives things that have been said and negative opinions that

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have been voiced, and what I want you to know and believe in

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your heart is that you are welcome here. This is a country

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that welcomes you, and this is your country.

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What you are doing today is opening yourself up to

No matter what has been said, no matter what you have

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seen, no matter what you have experienced, this country's

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values are about openness, tolerance, kindness, generosity, and

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love. So don't let anybody tell you anything different. You

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know what brought you here, and those are the values that you

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should uphold. As a citizen, it's your obligation to make sure

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that those remain the values of this country. So whether it's

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by voting or joining organizations or volunteering, whatever it

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is that you choose to do, it's your obligation to be a standard

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bearer for those values and to say: This is my country, and

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these are the values that we are about.

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It is important to know that these values were not

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decided today or yesterday but, instead, you can find these

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values inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. Emma Lazarus was a

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poet who worked with immigrants in the late 1800s, and she was

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asked to write a poem in order to fund the base for the Statue

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of Liberty. This is a poem that she wrote which was inspired

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by her work with immigrants, by her work with refugees, and it

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was decided by our country that it was so important and

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reflected our values so much that it was inscribed on our

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symbol of liberty, which is the Statue of Liberty. It's called

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The New Colossus:

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"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame with

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conquering limbs astride from land to land; here at our

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sea-washed sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch

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whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of

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Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows worldwide welcome. Her

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mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twins cities

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frame. Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp, cries she with

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silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled

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masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your

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teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost to

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me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

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country so great. Because of that, you have the opportunity to

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do anything you want to in this country, to be anyone you want

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to be. You can become a district court judge, like I did. You

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can do anything and make of your life what you want it to be

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for yourself, for your families, and for your future. The only

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thing we can't do is be President, but short of that we can do

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anything here. And that is why you came.

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Now, part and parcel of that is to allow other people

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to do the same and to make sure that other people who don't

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share your religion, who may not share your culture, who may

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not share your ethnicity or race, may not share your sexual

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orientation, or even some of your core fundamental beliefs, it

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is important for all of those people to know that you are

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tolerant, that you are kind, that you are generous. Those are

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the values that reflect what is best about this country, and as

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new citizens I hope that you carry that forward.

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Those are our values. That is what has made this

There is an old tale that I'm sure some of you have

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heard that's called Stone Soup which I think best reflects what

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America is. There were a group of travelers that had come into

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a village, and at first the villagers were not very welcoming

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to these travelers. But the travelers brought a big pot, and

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they put it in the middle of the village square. They poured

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water into the pot and put it over a fire. One by one the

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villagers came out to see what was going on and asked the

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travelers what they were doing. The travelers said: We are

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making stone soup.

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The travelers put a stone into the pot and then turned

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to each of the villagers and said: What do you have to

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contribute?

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One of the villagers said: I have an onion.
Another came forward with some carrots, and another
came forward with a little bit of chicken.

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By end of the day, they had a delicious soup that was

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made of everything that the villagers had brought and put into

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the pot.

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The United States is known as a melting pot. Each of

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you brings something special and unique to put into the pot.

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You bring something unique from your experience, from your

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country, from your customs, from your traditions, and you bring

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that to this country and make it even richer and better than it

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was before.

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So we welcome you here. We are so glad that you are

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here, and we can't wait to see what you are going to put into

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the pot to make this country a stronger, better place than it

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was before you got here. The fact that you have all these

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opportunities means also that you have obligations and

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responsibilities, and one of them is to be a good citizen.
You have the right to vote now. It doesn't matter who

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you vote for or what your politics are. It is important that

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you are engaged and that you vote. It matters that you vote

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for your alderman or commissioner, that you vote for your

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governor and state representatives, that you vote for your

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congressmen and senators, and that you vote for President. You

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should use that opportunity and the privilege that you have so

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that your voice is heard.

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Another responsibility that you have is to come back

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into this courthouse and be a juror. One of the underpinnings

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of our democracy is that we are a country of laws. In order to

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function as a democracy, people must serve as jurors. In

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criminal cases, people are entitled to have a jury made up of

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his or her peers. In civil cases, likewise, people have the

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right for their case to be heard by a jury. Ordinary citizens

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like you and I hear the evidence in these cases and come to a

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decision. So I hope when you are called for jury duty that you

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come and participate and see what our legal system is about

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from the inside as an active participant. It's a wonderful

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opportunity that is not to be missed.

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You now have the right to think whatever you want, and

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under the First Amendment to express yourself freely, to gather

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with whomever you like. You are free from discrimination and

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prejudice. You are free to do whatever you'd like to do with

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your life, and no one can tell you what to think, what to feel,

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or what to believe. By the same token, I ask that you give

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that freedom to everyone else.

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oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public as the apathy of a

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citizen in a democracy. If you don't do anything, if you don't

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participate, then you have no right to complain about what

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happens. It's when good people do nothing that bad things

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happen. So it is important, whatever your politics are, that

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you are engaged and that you use this opportunity to be engaged

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and really embrace your new country with all of your talents.

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Make this your home. Direct your love to this country because

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this country loves you and we are so glad you are here.

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So now we're going to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

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Normally I ask someone to stand and lead it for us. I notice

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that we've got some new citizens from Syria. If you would come

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forward, please, and if you would just come up to the front,

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that would be great. Then we will have everybody stand and

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face the flag.

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It has been said that the tyranny of a prince in an

Thank you. If you could lead us in the Pledge of
Allegiance, that would be great.
(Pledge of Allegiance by all present.)
THE COURT: So I want to give you all my heartfelt

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congratulations. This is one of the happiest things I do as a

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judge, so I am so thrilled to be able to welcome immigrants

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like myself and I am so glad that you are here. So we will

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give you a round of applause.

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(Applause.)
THE COURT: What we will do now is we will have

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everybody be seated. You will get your certificates, and then

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I will take pictures with everybody and give you the cards from

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the kids. So we will have everybody kind of line up, and I

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will be in the well. For everybody here, congratulations.

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Let's give them a round of applause.

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(Applause.)
THE COURT: Thank you.
(Proceedings concluded.)