Sixty people became new citizens Friday in a ceremony that became a
celebration of American freedoms, with speakers offering insights into the rights
guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
The
director of the Vermont State Police says recent crimes against undocumented
farm workers in Vermont have led to a new policy that will allow illegal
immigrants to report criminal activity without fear of arrest or deportation.
VPR’s
Steve Zind reports.
For several years since 9-11, Vermont has honored the day with a special gesture: every year immigrants take an oath of allegiance and become naturalized citizens of the United States.
Yesterday, 104 people became new citizens in ceremony at the Statehouse. Judge William Sessions told the people who packed the House chamber that the day is a reminder that our doors remain open to all who come here.
From The 2007 VPR Archive – Six years after the 9/11, the attacks are taking their place in history. We talk with teachers about how they present the facts of that day to their students and why there is no standard curriculum about 9/11.
A little more than an hour ago, 104 people stood at the Statehouse and became new citizens of the United States; Senator Patrick Leahy is urging Congress to support legislation to delay new passport requirements to 2009; foresters and landowners from around the Northeast are focusing on global climate change at a meeting in Fairlee today and tomorrow; the Caledonian-Record newspaper in St. Johnsbury was burglarized over the weekend.
Family and friends crowded into the Statehouse as the applicants formally renounced allegiance to any other country and then took their oaths of citizenship.