{"id":2135,"date":"2026-06-26T10:10:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:10:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2135"},"modified":"2026-06-26T10:10:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:10:39","slug":"rebirth-of-a-nation-new-americans-sworn-in-at-columbia-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2135","title":{"rendered":"Rebirth of a nation: New Americans sworn in at Columbia ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In a ceremony Thursday at the Columbia federal courthouse, 26 new Americans from 13 different countries were sworn in as naturalized citizens before a crowd that included nearly all the state\u2019s federal judges and University of South Carolina powerhouse women\u2019s basketball coach Dawn Staley.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2133\">The \u2018living room of campus\u2019 is about to change: USC OKs makeover of student union<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The 65-minute event was a bit of good news in a world otherwise full of controversy as America gets ready to celebrate its 250th birthday, a profession of hope that these new citizens will hold high the same torch of democracy that energized the founding generation.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is not the armies or invaders from without that will undo us, it is the collapse of respect for the rule of law, the very foundation of our liberty, which could destroy us,\u201d U.S. District Judge Sherri Lydon told the about-to-be new Americans, quoting Abraham Lincoln, as she urged them to dedicate themselves to upholding essential pillars of our way of life.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>I hope our new citizens will talk about the rule of law at your kitchen table with your family as you tell them about what makes America great, and how there was a just and fair path to citizenship,\u201d Lydon said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe rule of law has never defended itself. It never will. We must all do our part,\u201d she said. \u201cWe will always have to defend the rule of law.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd as you take the oath, you become the newest guardians of our democracy and our way of life,\u201d Lydon said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>One new citizen, Elena Maria Vitale, 25, from Italy, said she was moved during the ceremony, surrounded as she was by people from 12 other nations.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got very emotional, to see how I\u2019m not alone in this journey, that other people have come a long way too, with their dreams and their hopes, and I hope myself to make my dreams and hopes come true,\u201d Vitale said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the first time, I\u2019ll be a citizen for the Fourth of July, for the 250th anniversary, and that\u2019s great,\u201d Vitale said with a pleased smile.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>\u2018A country of immigrants\u2019<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Judge Richard Gergel, who presented the citizenship papers to each new American, told the crowd, \u201cThe United States is a country of immigrants. Except for our native Americans, all Americans descended from persons born in foreign countries.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2132\">\u2018Wild west\u2019 for THC drinks, edibles stays as hemp regulation deal collapses in SC<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u2018\u2019A persuasive argument can be made the genius of this country is from its ability to receive and welcome new and able citizens from other countries and other cultures,\u201d said Gergel. \u201cA defining characteristic of America is a history of tolerance, recognizing and respecting the cultural and religious differences of our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain told the crowd, \u201cNone of this works if you don\u2019t have a free press and the First Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The ceremony took place in a courtroom on the fourth floor of the Matthew Perry federal courthouse near the governor\u2019s mansion in downtown Columbia. Nearly 100 people filled the chamber; others watched from overflow rooms in the courthouse.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The 13 countries the new citizens came from included Mexico, Colombia, Moldova, Laos, Brazil, Ukraine, Belarus,  South Korea, Australia, Sudan, Vietnam and Italy.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Becoming a naturalized citizen can take three to five years. An applicant also has to pass English proficiency and civics tests. In the most recent 12-month period, some 818,000 people were naturalized around the county.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Besides Staley, those in the courtroom crowd included Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and S.C. Teacher of the year Corey Bedenbaugh of Batesburg-Leesville Middle School, Columbia\u2019s First Baptist Church senior pastor Wes Church and the Judge Joe Anderson\u2019s Sunday school class at a local Methodist church and school children from Irmo Elementary, who sang \u201cMy Country tis of Thee.\u201d Christina Harding, a recent University of South Carolina Rice Law School graduate, sang \u201cAmerica the Beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rickenmann, whose parents were naturalized Americans from Switzerland, said the ceremony was \u201cawesome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought it was fantastic to see those 26 people get sworn in with all their family there,\u201d said Rickenmann, 57, who attended his parents\u2019 naturalization ceremony in 1972 when he was just a small child and really too young to understand. \u201cI\u2019m first generation. I didn\u2019t even speak English until kindergarten.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Bedenbaugh said he was \u201cvery moved\u201d by the ceremony. \u201cIt was amazing to really see the future of America, to see people who earned their citizenship and who will continue helping make America the great country that it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2130\">Elena Moore autopsy reveals no signs of trauma. Here\u2019s what to know<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 26 freshly-minted Americans were told that they are now the \u201cnewest guardians\u201d of our country\u2019s way of life, the foundation of which is the rule of law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Rebirth of a nation: New Americans sworn in at Columbia ceremony - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2135\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rebirth of a nation: New Americans sworn in at Columbia ceremony - 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