On a sunny spring morning at Lexington's Battle Green, 49 individuals from 23 countries became US citizens in a naturalization ceremony. The event, held on the historic site where the first battle of the American Revolution took place 251 years ago, was the second such ceremony on the Green, following last year's 250th anniversary celebrations.
US Magistrate Judge Paul G. Levenson administered the Oath of Allegiance, emphasising that the oath is to the Constitution, not to any person or government. The new citizens hailed from countries including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom.
Among those sworn in was Oscar Morales, originally from Guatemala, who moved to the US as a teenager and now tends bar in Waltham. Filipe dos Santos, a Brazilian-born US Army soldier, expressed his excitement at being able to vote. Xuemei, a sociology professor at Bentley University who came from China for graduate school, described the ceremony as important and moving.
Vineeta Kumar, the first person of colour on Lexington's Select Board and herself a naturalised citizen from India, told the gathering they were now part of a living legacy of liberty and justice. Steve Cole, captain of the Lexington Minute Men, noted that his wife is originally from Mexico and hopes she will be naturalised next year on the Green.
