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415892647
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[INS Swearing In, 10/1/91]
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415892647
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document
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[INS Swearing In, 10/1/91]
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13895-001
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Records of the White House Office of Speechwriting (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Tony Snow Subject Files
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Snow, Tony, Files
Subseries:
Subject File, 1988-1993
OA/ID Number:
13895
Folder ID Number:
13895-001
Folder Title:
[INS Swearing In, 10/1/91]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
18
29
2
3
Boston - FTS
835-4943
Steve
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Mr/Fargurson
3106
Oath of allegiance 1
Oct / 1991 -
Admin Nats- - Great Justice Hall of
Oct. 18
still integral part public
event
remarks? judges?
Nancy Brones Bruns - Wash. Dist Office
Manticello - July 4
307 1649 440
307-1565
2nd Tues. exc. Sept -
langt. Day Sept. 17
Archives 50 people
3rd. Thura. -Virginia IN5 cententrial
Alexandria
600 Monday - H.S.
probiled
To Peggy
Date for 13 Time 4:05
WHILE YOU WERE OUT
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Library
of
Phone
Area Code
Number
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TELEPHONED
PLEASE CALL
CALLED TO SEE YOU
WILL CALL AGAIN
WANTS TO SEE YOU
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RETURNED YOUR CALL
Message
Byzantium
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DA
Operator
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when
Oasis 1310 3.30
Boston August -Aug
U.S. Dist Court
ceremonial nat-@ Archives - holiday
#5/Phylling Howard326 1605 2080 4330
INS - 514-2000 Justice
Wm. Carroll
gwearing-in
ceremony 1 monthly
how often, where
naturalization - classes
school dists +vol.
prepare for int.
33 5231
Mr.Joe Cuddihy
804
speed up process - relieve courts
BELMORRAD
ESO-ES
law change- etf Oct.
purely
admin. R out ELS
Services of Mead Data Central, Inc.
PAGE 4
DATE: JUNE 19, 1991
CLIENT:
LIBRARY: NEXIS
FILE: OMNI
YOUR SEARCH REQUEST IS:
SWEARING IN W/25 CITIZENS OR IMMIGRANTS AND DATE AFT 1989
NUMBER OF STORIES FOUND WITH YOUR REQUEST THROUGH:
LEVEL 1...
59
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5
9TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1991 News World Communications Inc.;
The Washington Times
March 14, 1991, Thursday, Final Edition
Correction Appended
SECTION: Part A; NATION; Pg. A3
LENGTH: 990 words
HEADLINE: Citizenship process loses luster
BYLINE: Ronald A. Taylor; THE WASHINGTON TIMES
BODY:
When President Bush signed the Immigration Act of 1990, he hailed it as "the
most comprehensive reform of our immigration laws in 66 years."
The act revises federal immigration law to allow a 40 percent increase in
the number of immigrants-turned-citizens each year and dramatically streamlines
the naturalization process to reduce some of the costs and red tape associated
with gaining U.S. citizenship.
The process is so streamlined that, as of Oct. 1, the often-stirring
courthouse ceremony in which a foreign-born temporary resident becomes a
full-fledged U.S. citizen becomes optional. If the new citizen chooses, the
final step of U.S. citizenship can be done through the mail.
"This removes the majesty of the naturalization process," said Daniel Stein,
executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. "For 200
years, the country has impressed on immigrants the aura of the process. Now
they can do it mail-order."
The new law only eliminates the requirement of swearing-in by a federal
judge, said Duke Austin, spokesman for the Justice Department's Immigration and
Naturalization Service.
5542448
The swearing-in ceremony "will be optional for the alien," he said.
Through "administrative naturalization" an immigrant - after satisfying
INS requirements, including the oral examination on the basics of U.S.
government and civics - can obtain citizenship without taking an additional step
of requesting it from a federal judge.
In the nation's largest cities, where most immigrants tend to settle, it
will mean that citizenship petitions no longer will compete for judicial
attention on court calendars already clogged with criminal cases and civil
lawsuits.
The court workload has caused waits of up to a year after clearing INS
requirements. In addition to waiting for accumulation of enough petitions to
justify the ceremony, the applicant has to pay a court fee that varies in
different jurisdictions. In the District, it is $50.
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(c) 1991 The Washington Times, March 14, 1991
But in exchange, the new citizen is the central character in a stirring
ritual conducted in the ornate ceremonial courtroom in U.S. District Court.
The 45-minute swearing-in ceremony conducted on Tuesday before Judge
Stanley S. Harris, for instance, featured presentation of flags by the U.S.
Capitol Police color team and the formal presentation of the citizenship
petition in the form of a legal motion to the judge.
After granting the motions, the judge administered the oath of U.S.
allegiance to a courtroom full of new citizens. Then a court clerk led the new
citizens in the familiar pledge of allegiance to the flag.
Mark Mancini, a Washington immigration attorney, has witnessed the ritual
scores of times but, he said, "every time it chokes me up."
The new provision to make the courtroom appearance optional "is the death
knell of judicial naturalizations as we have known them," Mr. Mancini said.
"If they have an option, they take the easiest way. New citizens don't know
what that ceremony means."
To be sworn in under less formal circumstances, he said, "you might as well
be at the department of motor vehicles."
To Mr. Stein the provision is a signal of the "continued erosion in the
seriousness and decorum of the naturalization process."
Making the ceremonial appearance optional, he said, is another symptom of
what he calls "the decline in civic participation."
"The naturalization process is the one chance to teach these people what it
means to function in a tolerant republican democracy," Mr. Stein said.
"If that's the worse thing that's wrong, then I salute the INS," American
Enterprise Institute immigration expert Ben J. Wattenberg said.
"Overall, the law is a powerful, major piece of legislation that will
increase [the number of] immigrants by 40 percent," he said.
The bill increases overall immigration by 160,000 persons a year through
1992 and settles on a total immigrant level of 675,000 a year for subsequent
years.
It increases the number of immigrants sponsored by family members to 520,000
per year through 1994, and at least 480,000 a year thereafter.
The new law also reserves 140,000 visas a year for immigrants with
desirable job skills and earmarks 10,000 visas for those with at least $1
million to invest in businesses.
Mr. Austin said INS officials are drafting guidelines to assure that the
swearing-in of new citizens "will be a ceremonial event."
The Justice Department "can deliver the same decorum and the same sort of
dignifed ceremony" and still achieve more expediency and less expense for the
nation's newest citizens, he said.
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(c) 1991 The Washington Times, March 14, 1991
****PHOTOS/BOX
NOTABLE AND NATURALIZED
Washington's population is 20 percent foreign born. Here are some of the
best-known current and former Washingtonians who are naturalized citizens.
W. Michael Blumenthal, former secretary of treasury, Germany
Anna Chennault, aviation executive, China
Jack Kent Cooke, Redskins' owner, Canada
Arnaud de Borchgrave, editor-in-chief The Washington Times, Belgium
Rep. Mervyn Dymally, California Democrat, Trinidad
Rep. Sam Gejdenson, California Democrat, Hungary
Judge Harold Greene, federal judge, Belgium
Pamela Harriman, political action committee admin., England
Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state, Germany
Madeleine Kunin, former Vermont governor, Switzerland
Rep. Tom Lantos, California Democrat, Hungary
Adm. Hyman Rickover, Navy admiral, Soviet Union
Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen, Florida Republican, Cuba
Sichan Siv, assistant to President Bush for domestic policy, Cambodia
Rep. Ted Weiss, New York Democrat, Hungary
Mort Zuckerman, U.S. News & World Report owner, Canada
Source: Immigration lawyer Mark Mancini, Congressional Directory
CORRECTION-DATE: March 18, 1991, Monday, Final Edition
CORRECTION:
A story in Thursday's editions of The Washington Times incorrectly reported
some of the new U.S. naturalization procedures. Mailing citizenship
certificates to newly naturalized U.S. citizens was con- templated - but never
adopted - in rules now being drafted and scheduled to be published in the
Federal Register June 30.
Under recent revisions to immigration law, the oath of U.S. citizenship no
longer must be administered by a federal judge. The revisions also end the
requirement that a citizenship petition be submitted to a judge, a step that
costs $50 in all U.S. jurisdictions.
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PAGE 8
(c) 1991 The Washington Times, March 14, 1991
Also, Rep. Sam Gejdenson is a Connecticut Democrat.
GRAPHIC: Photo, Hundreds of immigrants are sworn in as U.S. citizens at T.C.
Williams school in 1988. With the Immigration Act of 1990, the ceremony is now
optional., By Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Times ; Photos/Box, Photos
Captions: A) Jack Kent Cooke; B) Madeleine Kunin; C) Henry Kissinger; Box
Caption) NOTABLE AND NATURALIZED, Photos) NO CREDIT; Box) By The Washington
Times
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9
39TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1990 Gannett Company Inc.
USA TODAY
September 4, 1990, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5A
LENGTH: 464 words
HEADLINE: COMING TO AMERICA;
Symbolic door ready to reopen;
Immigrants' past is part of the future
BYLINE: Bethany Kandel
DATELINE: ELLIS ISLAND, N.Y.
BODY:
For millions of immigrants seeking a new life in America, Ellis Island was
the door to the ''promised land.''
Now, after six years and a $ 156 million restoration, this gateway to freedom
reopens next week as a national museum celebrating the history of U.S.
immigration and the stories of the millions of newcomers who passed through here
from 1892 to 1954.
Sunday marks the dedication of the museum and the American Immigrant Wall
of Honor, along with a ceremony that includes the swearing-in of 50 new U.S.
citizens.
The museum . - owned by the National Park Service, as part of the Statue of
Liberty National Monument : - opens to the public on Monday and is expected to
draw 2 million to 5 million visitors a year.
''Ellis Island is a symbol of the hopes and dreams of all immigrants who came
to America looking for opportunity and freedom, says Stephen Briganti,
president of The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, which oversaw the
museum's development.
More than 40% of all living Americans can trace their roots to someone who
came through ''the Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears. Besides the 12 million who
came through Ellis Island, another 5 milion entered other Port of New York
points.
Museum visitors will be able to retrace the immigrant-processing experience,
from the first view of this grand beaux arts building; through the Registry
Room, where hopefuls waited to see whether they passed inspection; and down the
'Staircase of Separation,' where immigrants headed out to new lives or were
detained for possible deportation.
Only 2% - about 250,000 among the millions who came to the USA were refused
entry and sent home at the expense of the steamship company that brought them.
Those detained: bigamists, anarchists, unaccompanied women, the mentally
defective and people with incurable diseases. The most common medical reason
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PAGE 10
(c) 1990 USA TODAY, September 4, 1990
for exclusion: trachoma, a contagious eye disease that can blind.
The museum is housed in Ellis Island's main building, which once processed
5,000 to 7,000 people a day. Mass immigration ceased after immigration quotas
were set in 1924, and the building was almost completely abandoned in 1954.
It was near ruin when renovations began in 1983: Pigeons swooped through
rotting rafters, salt water seeped through masonry and snow covered the floor.
Money for the renovation came entirely from corporations and private
donations. Individuals paid $ 100 and more to inscribe names of immigrant
ancestors on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor.
Another wall is planned for 1992. For more information, contact the Statue of
Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, N.Y.
10017-3808.
Ellis Island story:
- Cost to build hall: $ 1.5 million
- Cost to renovate as a museum: $ 156 million
GRAPHIC: PHOTO; color, Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY (Ellis Island, Main Building);
PHOTO; b/w, National Park Service ( Ellis Island, Immigrants); PHOTO; b/w,
California Museum Photography (Emigration and Immigration, Boat of Immigrants)
CUTLINE: In 1907 - Ellis Island's peak year - The Glerum family of Holland,
below, stood on the brink of a new life.
SUBJECT: IMMIGRATION; MUSEUM; CELEBRATION
NOTES: USA'S GATEWAY SPECIAL SECTION
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PAGE 11
4TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Proprietary to the United Press International 1991
June 14, 1991, Friday, BC cycle
SECTION: Regional News
DISTRIBUTION: New York Metro, New York
LENGTH: 470 words
HEADLINE: New York become citizens
BYLINE: BY RHEA MANDULO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
KEYWORD: NY-IMMIGRANTS
BODY:
In what officials termed the largest swearing-in ceremony in decades, 6,000
New Yorkers Friday celebrated their first day as Americans.
The new citizens, who live mostly in Brooklyn and Queens, crowded inside
the gymnasium at St. John's University in Queens during the afternoon ceremony
organized by U.S. Rep. Thomas Manton, D-Queens.
Mayor David Dinkins and other dignitaries sat on the red-carpeted stage in
the largest ceremony held in the state since 1954 as thousands their faces
glistening with pride -- listened and then cheered.
''I feel privileged. I came to the United States with a dream,'' said Tony
Khoury, 27, who was born in Lebanon and now lives in Long Beach.
' 'My dream is to establish something for my children in the future, and I'm
achieving it,'' said the bachelor. ''So far, I have a pretty good job and the
next step is to bring my family, my mom and dad.'
Dinkins hailed the newest New Yorkers, calling attention to their sacrifices
and acknowledging his respect for their new status.
'Immigrants helped to build this city and continue to make our city a Mecca
of diversity and international culture,' Dinkins said.
Looking over what he called a ''gorgeous mosaic,' Dinkins reminded the
audience not to ''forsake and forget your own national origin and heritage. Only
by maintaining the gifts of each of your cultures, and passing them on to your
children, can you keep our city strong.''
U.S. Rep. Charles Schumer, D-Brooklyn, a member of an immigration
subcommittee, praised the immigrants' desire to help their loved ones.
'Every person who came whether by plane, by train or boat, who sought a
better life, we appreciate them, we understand them and we admire them, he
said.
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PAGE 12
Proprietary to the United Press International, June 14, 1991
For David Reytblat, 45, of Brooklyn, formerly of the Soviet Union, becoming
a U.S. citizen is a chance to start off on equal footing.
'When you come here, everybody is equal,' Reytblat said.
For Peter Lipinski, 18, who was born in Poland, the ceremony marked the day
he moves a step closer to realizing his dream of becoming ' 'an Air Force
pilot.'
Hearing the ''Pledge of Allegiance'' was an emotional experience for many,
including a housekeeper who would only give her name as ''Cathy.''
''I wish the people of this country could know how happy I am,'' said the
Costa Rican-born woman who said she has been a domestic worker for 28 years.
They are born here and they don't appreciate anything in this country. We come
here from other countries and we appreciate what this country has done.
''We worked all week and they paid us $150,' said the gray-haired woman.
They take advantage of us. Now I can open my mouth and say, 'I am a United
States citizen, 111 she said. 'They aren't going to take advantage of me
anymore.
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