Murray State University’s Wrather Hall was momentarily declared a federal court on Tuesday when it hosted a U.S. naturalization ceremony for the first time in the school’s history – welcoming 41 new emigrants from 20 different countries as U.S. citizens.
Naturalization is the process of gaining citizenship through fulfilling requirements set in place by Congress. Meeting those requirements can take many years but, once complete, the process ends with a ceremony where new citizens take the United States’ Oath of Allegiance and receive their naturalization certificate.
Ibraahim Abkdir was among the newly naturalized citizens who participated Tuesday, who previously emigrated to America from Somalia. He says that ceremony was very meaningful to him because it represented the final step in his yearslong journey to citizenship.
“The United States … it's a dream country. So today, [I’m] so happy I made it, so now I'm a citizen. I've been waiting a long [time] – for seven years now – and today's the day. I'm so happy,” Abkdir said.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allen Stout, presided over the ceremony and played a role in having it hosted at MSU. He said that experiences like Abkdir’s make these proceedings “one of the coolest things that federal judges get to do.”
Stout also said that the opportunity to share this experience with the public was a driving force behind hosting it on the western Kentucky college’s campus.
“This is an opportunity for the outreach of the court system, for people to see something positive,” said Stout.
In addition to taking the Oath of Allegiance and receiving their certificate of naturalization, the newly minted citizens were able to begin their voter registration process after the ceremony concluded in the building’s lobby, which was facilitated by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.
