Alma Chase (left) is congratulated by Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas. Credit: Kevin McCallum © Seven Days At midmorning on December 3, a usually somber and decorous federal courtroom in downtown Burlington buzzed with celebratory energy. People packed the gallery’s wooden be nches, dressed up in vibrant dresses, elegant saris, crisp suits. Alma Chase strode into the courtroom. Twenty-six years ago, Chase had arrived in Burlington at age 9 as a Bosnian refugee. On this day, she was among 23 people from 16 countries who had reached the end of a winding path. The assembled group was prepared to take the Oath of Allegiance to become Vermont’s newest U.S. citizens, joining 262 other Vermonters sworn in this year. All were doubtless aware that they had reached this moment amid a crackdown on immigration unprecedented in American history. Just the day before, the administration of President Donald Trump had halted all immigration applications, including naturalization ceremonies like this one, for people from 19 targeted countries. Some ceremonies have been abruptly canceled, leaving would-be citizens in limbo at the final step in the process. Chase, 34, dressed in a pale pink sweater and glasses, found a seat in a middle row of the courtroom. Her parents and husband — all U.S. citizens — sat several rows behind her. Chase looked around at the crowd, appearing nervous but proud. To her, this moment felt long overdue. Chase was just a baby when her mother fled with her from Bosnia to Macedonia after the breakup of Yugoslavia and subsequent war displaced millions. At 5 years old, she learned that her brother and father were alive, having survived captivity in concentration camps where torture was commonplace. The family reunited and applied to be resettled in the U.S. as refugees, arriving in Burlington in the late ’90s. Vermont has been Chase’s home ever since. She graduated from Winooski High School and studied at Community College of Vermont. A few years ago, she married her U.S.-born husband. But she put off pursuing her own citizenship for years because she was nervous about passing the written test. In April, though, she finally decided it was time, in part because she wanted to travel to beautiful places she had seen in photos, such as Banff National Park in Canada. She also wanted to vote. Chase listened to YouTube videos that quizzed her on American history and civics as she drove to and from her job as a receptionist at a Burlington dental office. In September, she aced the test on the first try. She would finally be a recognized citizen of the only home she had ever known.  Uzima Bora Credit: Kevin McCallum © Seven Days A few rows in front of her, Uzima Bora, 35, sat with her 80-year-old mother. They, too, had come as refugees, after fleeing war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and living for more than 10 years in a refugee camp in Burundi. In 2018, they resettled in Vermont. Trump has since halted the program that brought them here. On this day, Bora was giddy, decked out in a brightly patterned blue dress and matching headwrap, gold necklaces and hoop earrings. She works as a home health aide but hopes citizenship will help her find something better. Next to her sat Zuena Marthe, 47, a friend who had lived in the same refugee camp for seven years. She was also about to be naturalized. Sharrah LeClair, the court’s naturalization deputy, stepped to the microphone and welcomed the expectant people seated before her. “This is the happiest day in our courtroom,” LeClair said. She encouraged people to take photos and make noise — usually a no-no in the courtroom — and set the stage for the ritual to come. “You’re about to witness something very special and meaningful,” she said. Everyone stood as U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle entered the courtroom through a door near the judge’s bench. From the main entrance, two uniformed men slowly marched to the front of the assembly, one bearing an unfurled American flag, the other a Vermont flag. Doyle asked everyone to sit. “Today we will welcome as American citizens 23 people from 16 countries, a wonderful representation of countries and cultures from all over the world,” Doyle pronounced. He ticked off the nations represented: Ghana, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Bhutan, Russia, Canada, Jamaica, Hungary, India, Pakistan, Ireland, United Kingdom, Colombia and Nepal.  “Your journey here today has no doubt presented unique difficulties and challenges along the way,” he said. “You may have left family and friends. All of you have left familiar surroundings. You may have experienced hunger, illness or other hardships.” “Today,” Doyle continued, “you join so many of your fellow Americans — past and present — who have made similar journeys to become part of this great American experiment.” The judge reflected on the experiences of his own parents, who emigrated from Canada and became naturalized citizens in a ceremony like this one more than 50 years ago in New York City. “I ask you in the years ahead to hold on to the hope and anticipation — the excitement — that you feel today about this great achievement of becoming a United States citizen,” he implored. “Don’t take your wonderful freedoms for granted.” “Being here today, it feels like freedom.”Alma Chase The judge then asked each person to rise when he called their name, until all were standing together, their friends and family gazing up at them. Together, they raised their right hands and, repeating after the judge, recited the oath in unison. “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen,” the group pronounced.  When it ended, the audience broke into applause. Chase sat back down, beaming.  “Being here today, it feels like freedom,” she said. One by one, Chase and the others walked to the front of the room to receive their citizenship certificates, shaking hands with a reception line of smiling court and immigration officials and staffers representing Vermont’s Congressional delegation. Then the freshly minted citizens and their families and friends hugged one another and posed for photos. They waved tiny, complimentary American flags and excitedly introduced themselves to one another. “You should come over for some Ghanaian food some time!” one woman told a couple she had just met. Amid the short-lived revelry, there was little sign of the wider political turmoil around immigration and citizenship playing out across the country. Still, Chase acknowledged that many others seeking safe haven may never get to experience the sense of belonging she was feeling on this day. The room was emptying, but Chase had one more chore to complete. She walked to a table just outside the courtroom and grabbed a paper form and a pen. Then, for the first time in her life, she registered to vote. The original print version of this article was headlined “Newest Americans | As Trump’s immigration crackdown intensified last week, 23 people became American citizens in a Burlington courtroom” The post Amid an Immigration Crackdown, 23 New Vermonters Become Citizens appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less