50 new U.S. citizens from 25 countries take Oath of Allegiance at Port Washington high school

A Scotsman, Fraser Kennedy came to America because he met a girl — from Massapequa. Lu Wang came from China, Sheneezh Hussein from Guyana, Papia Haque from Bangladesh. All seeking a better life.

On Thursday morning, in naturalization ceremonies hosted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Justice for All: Courts and the Community initiative, the four were among 50 immigrants from 25 countries who were administered the Oath of Allegiance at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington — all becoming U.S. citizens.

They did so as part of an initiative to bring ceremonies to a host of Long Island sites in celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary. Others are planned in the coming months at Fire Island Lighthouse, the William Floyd Estate and St. John’s University School of Law.

But, as Port Washington Superintendent of Schools Gaurav Passi, who came to the United States at age 2 from New Delhi, told the group, which included friends, relatives and scores of students: "I took the same oath you will take." Becoming a citizen, Passi added, was "an invitation" to endless possibilities only America could offer.

The ceremonies commenced with the presentation of colors by volunteers from the Port Washington Fire Department and Henderson-Marino VFW Post 1819. The school choir sang the national anthem and many of the soon-to-be Americans stood, hands over their hearts, singing along. U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks administered the oath, which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, telling the group: "Our country gets stronger each time a new citizen takes that oath."

As keynote speaker, U.S. Circuit Court Judge Joseph F. Bianco told those gathered: "The United States of America will always hold the promise."

A resident of Jamaica, Queens, Hussein, 25, came to the United States with her father and sister six years ago, following her grandmother and aunt, Farina Jaisingh, who attended the ceremonies. She’d become a citizen in 2002.

A cargo handler at Kennedy Airport, Hussein said she didn’t tell her father and sister she was becoming a citizen, admitting the current debate over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and immigrant rights led to tense moments.

"I kept it secret," she said, "because I wanted to make sure it happened first." Thrilled to be a citizen, Hussein said she hoped to reunite soon with her daughter, Jia, 7, who is with family in Guyana.

Haque, who is from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, happily posed for photos in front of an American flag, holding her new proof of citizenship and joined by her husband, Chironjib Das. Also from Dhaka, he became a naturalized citizen last Friday. 

"You have the chance to do something better here," Das said. "Things that were not possible I believe are possible for us in this country."

Wang, 45, left China with her husband, Gordon Jin, 50, in 2005, to pursue an MBA at the University of Virginia.

"We came for the future of the next generation," Wang said.

She sees that future in her daughter, Julia, 14, a freshman at Lynbrook High School. "She is more like a Long Islander," Wang said.

Before he addressed his new fellow Americans, Kennedy — "like the president," he joked — said he’d come to the United States, to Long Island, after meeting his future wife, Lauren, in college in Scotland.

"Her friend was dating my friend," he said. "They broke up, we got married."

Kennedy is an accountant, his wife an attorney. They live in Huntington and are expecting a baby in May.

The newest Americans naturalized in the ceremonies come from Albania, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Italy, Jamaica, Pakistan, Peru, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and the United Kingdom.

"Who you are, that identity deep in your hearts," Bianco told the new citizens, "you’re not losing that today, you’re adding something amazing. ... Because, you are now an American. How does that sound?"