Naturalization ceremony swears in 12 new citizens

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, front, second from left, Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio, seated leftmost, Mount Carmel School president Galvin Deleon Guerrero, seated second from right, and Immigration Services officer Shelia Kelty, seated rightmost, join the 12 new citizens in a group photo during a naturalization ceremony in the District Court yesterday morning. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Twelve persons from five countries—the Philippines, Bangladesh, China, Japan, and Malaysia—took their oath as new U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony in the U.S. District Court for the NMI yesterday.

Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona, who presided over the ceremony, welcomed the new members of the American family and encouraged them to register so they can vote in the CNMI.

One of the duties of a citizen is to serve on a jury and Manglona hopes to see one of the new citizens in the court’s jury box in a trial.

Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio, who is also a designated federal court judge, joined in welcoming the new citizens during the ceremony.

Mount Carmel School president Galvin Deleon Guerrero, who served as the guest speaker, recalled his mother, who told him that the U.S. was like her favorite popular TV show, The Price is Right.

Deleon Guerrero said his mother, who watched the show every day, was so good at guessing the prices of goods that, had she been on the show, she would have won a brand-new car.

Now that he is older, Deleon Guerrero, who teaches American civics and has been involved in American politics and government for a long time, said his mother may have had a point that she herself didn’t quite understand.

“Because everything has a price. Nothing is free and anything worthwhile requires some kind of sacrifice, including the rights of citizenship,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero told the new citizens that it is worth remembering the price that many have paid for the country, the people’s rights, and citizenship.

He noted that over the years, the 14th Amendment has become perhaps the single most important amendment in securing the rights of citizenship for minorities, the disabled, children, and numerous marginalized groups, with civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King fighting to secure those rights.

Whether in the halls of Congress, before the justices of the Supreme Court, or on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, countless Americans have fought for their civil rights to be counted as full and equal citizens of the United States, he said.

“They paid the price so that we could enjoy those same rights today,” he added.

Deleon Guerrero also cited the men and women of the armed services who have paid with their lives to secure those rights. He disclosed that his own brother served three tours—two in Iraq and one in Kuwait—and lost many fellow soldiers as they paid the ultimate price.

He said immigrants have also paid the price of citizenship. “Over the years, I have met many students whose parents had to leave their families and their homes to seek a better life in the U.S.,” he said.

No matter what the political pundits say about immigrants, Deleon Guerrero said, their struggle has not been easy. “Leaving their homes and families, they continued to pay the price as they adapted to a new culture, struggled to make ends meet, and confronted both explicit and implicit racism,” he said.

Deleon Guerrero said immigrants have worked hard, endured much, and paid a price to be full-fledged members of American democracy.

He pointed out that when his mother said that the U.S. was like her favorite TV show, she may have had the wrong idea but she had the right words.

“Because there is a price for democracy. There is a price for our freedoms. And there is a price for citizenship. And I believe we can all agree that there is no price too high to pay for any of those things,” Deleon Guerrero said.

Couple Crispina Aranda Bahillo and Jaime Asejo Bahillo, both from the Philippines, were among the 12 who took their oath as new citizens during the ceremony. Crispina Bahillo, 58, who is originally from Zambales, looks forward to the ease of travel as a U.S. citizens and being able to vote in the CNMI.

Crispina Bahill arrived on Saipan in 1982 and worked as an accountant for an auto supply shop. Now she is the administrative manager of an engineering firm.

She then met Jaime Bahillo, a native of Legaspi, Philippines, who first came in 1984, and worked as an auto parts man. The following year, 1985, they got married. Jaime Bahillo, 63, is currently a custodial officer with the Commonwealth Ports Authority.

The couple has five children who are now all grown. Two of them are currently teaching in public schools. One is a police officer with the Department of Public Safety. One, who used to be a DPS police officer, is currently working at the U.S. Postal Office. The youngest is in college.

Another new citizen, MD Nurul Islam Bhuiyan, 48, originally of Bangladesh, is excited to register and vote in the CNMI. Bhuiyan first arrived in 1996 as a security guard. He has been married for five and half years now. Bhuiyan now owns a security agency and a rent-a-car business.

Aside from the Bahillo couple and businessman Bhuiyan, the new citizens are Hua Cui Chipwelong, Estrella Roja Legaspi Dela Cruz, Jian Qin Hall, Luciano Galang Larin, Mavelyn Trapal Mabini, Haniziel Doloso Nicholas, Gina Cabalum Santos, Kazuko Inoue Sondheim, and Sook Lan Wong.