Welcome aboard

On dock next to USS Constitution, 26 people become citizens

Voice quavering ever so slightly, Seaman Ryan Ellis sang a patriot song yesterday for the 26 people who took the Oath of Citizenship on the dock next to his ship, the USS Constitution.

As they waved miniature American flags like tiny conductors' batons, the new US citizens began to join in, timidly at first, until by the end a full chorus, born in Laos and Lebanon, in Syria, Switzerland and 16 other nations, helped Ellis finish the final refrain, "God bless America, my home sweet home."

They may have been uncertain about adding voices to an impromptu choir, but some of those interviewed were eager to participate in an impending rite of citizenship: voting in the November presidential election.

"The right to vote, for me, is very important - it's a privilege that's underestimated," said Jill Hackett, who arrived from South Africa nine years ago and is now director of training at Partners in Health, an international healthcare advocacy group based in Boston.

"You look at what's going on in Zimbabwe," she said of the widely-discredited presidential election in that African nation. "In this country, your vote counts. The power really lies in the hands of the citizens."

Alan Herbert, who left New Zealand and now is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, decided to become a US citizen in part because of his strong opinions about the war in Iraq, which he opposes.

"It's fine to be a critic, but at a certain point you have to participate," said Herbert, who wanted to change citizenship in time to vote in November, noting that the next president also might make appointments that will affect the balance on the US Supreme Court.

Yesterday's ceremony represented a trifecta of sorts for the new citizens. They took the oath on the Fourth of July, the most patriotic holiday in their adopted home. Raising their right hands, they faced the USS Constitution, a potent symbol of preserving democracy. And afterward, Vice President Dick Cheney dropped by to shake hands and ask them about their countries of origin.

"At home we cannot shake hands with the vice president," said Rasikbhai Patel, who immigrated from Surat, India, and was sworn in yesterday with his son, Hardik.

From the tent that shielded the gathering from the rain, Cheney stepped aboard the USS Constitution, where he was scheduled to attend a military reenlistment ceremony that his office said was closed to the public.

But the brevity of his visit didn't dim the enthusiasm of those who were thrilled to meet the nation's second-highest elected official.

"I can't believe that on my first day as a citizen I shook hands with the vice president," said Dor Juravski, who used to live in Israel.

The 26 Massachusetts residents who took the Oath of Citizenship were among about 2,500 people to do so yesterday nationwide, said Shawn Saucier, a spokesman for US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"It's a great day to be an American," Tom Paar, chief of staff for the agency, told the gathering. "It's an even greater day to become one."

US District Judge Richard G. Stearns presided over the ceremony, telling the new citizens that the USS Constitution, docked behind him as he faced those gathered for the event, was an apt metaphor that "reminds us that freedom is not always a natural state of human affairs."

Along with the privilege of voting, Stearns said, citizenship carries responsibilities, including one he called "close to my heart" - jury duty. "If I am fortunate," he said, "I will get to see you in my courtroom."

The new citizens moved to the United States for reasons as diverse as the countries they left behind. Sarah Inam traveled from Saudi Arabia to study communications management at Emerson College. Christelle Salemme moved from Switzerland in 1994 to become an au pair.

"I wasn't really planning on staying," she said, "but I got married."

And Petty Officer First Class Edwin Arango didn't travel far for the ceremony, though the country of his birth was a continent away.

Arango serves on the USS Constitution and led the Pledge of Allegiance yesterday. He was 5 when his family moved to the United States.

At 33, a dozen years into his Navy career, he is finally a US citizen.

"I've done a lot of things with the Navy," he said, "but this is by far the most exciting and the most nerve-racking."

Hackett, who came to the United States eight years ago on a Fulbright scholarship to get her MBA at Brandeis University, said the hourlong ceremony was at once exhilarating and humbling.

"It's such an honor," she said, clutching the certificate of US citizenship that is sought by so many. "Just holding this in my hand - how many want it?"