Manzanar to Host Citizenship Ceremony in Visitor Center

Fourteen people from six countries were sworn in as new citizens during a ceremony at Manzanar in 2017. (Rafu Shimpo photo)

INDEPENDENCE — This Friday, May 10, Manzanar will be hosting a citizenship ceremony in its Visitor Center at 11 a.m.

The ceremony will be held in collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who will congratulate 26 individuals who will take their oaths to become U.S. citizens.

The special guest speaker is USCIS San Bernardino Field Office Director Irene Martin. Manzanar Superintendent Bernadette Johnson will be making welcoming remarks and helping present certificates to the new citizens.

Other speakers will include Ellen Woo, assistant regional director of USCIS; Lynn Feldman, a field office director from USCIS; and Fatima Khan, Manzanar community volunteer ambassador. After the ceremony, the Inyo County Registrar will be assisting with voter registration for the new citizens.

Johnson expressed what a privilege it is to be able to host this ceremony, specifically at Manzanar. “It is an honor to host the fourth annual naturalization ceremony at Manzanar National Historic Site. Through interpreting the experiences of the WWII incarceration of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans, we emphasize the fragility of our Constitution. Being a part of this important day for our new citizens as they take their oath of allegiance to the United States, pledging to support and defend the Constitution, is very special. We appreciate the continued partnership with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”

For more information, contact Fatima Khan at (760) 878-2194, ext. 3313, or fatima.khan@ou.edu.

Manzanar National Historic Site is located at 5001 Highway 395, six miles south of Independence and nine miles north of Lone Pine. Learn more on the website at https://www.nps.gov/manz or at https://www.facebook.com/ManzanarNationalHistoricSite.