Posted by:
Carla Leow
on Sep 5, 2025
A FAVORITE DAY: Welcoming New Americans
By Judge Jack Zouhary
Some of my favorite days as a judge don’t happen in the courthouse. They happen in high school gymnasiums, college auditoriums, metroparks, museums, or neighborhood community centers – places where we gather to welcome new Americans.
All federal judges agree that it’s the best part of the job.
Once a month, we pause our usual docket – motions, sentencings, trials – and take our show on the road to celebrate a different kind of legal milestone: citizenship. It’s a moment when the formality of court gives way to something deeply personal and profoundly American.
The room is normally filled with quiet anticipation. Students recite poems. A choir sings. Families lean forward, phones in hand, ready to capture the moment. And dozens of new Americans, from all over the globe, step up to take an oath that changes their lives forever. For many, this journey started years, or even decades, ago. The process ends here, in the Northern District of Ohio, surrounded by strangers who are now their neighbors – fellow citizens.
These ceremonies are a reminder that immigration is not just policy or politics – it’s people. A teacher from Cameroon. A factory worker from Venezuela. A mother from Iraq. They stand beside one another, reciting the same oath, reminding all of us that citizenship is both a privilege and a promise.
We often tell our new citizens that this is just the beginning. Naturalization is not only a legal status – it is an invitation to participate: to vote, to serve on juries, to help those in need. We encourage them to see themselves not just as beneficiaries of American democracy, but as its stewards. As Benjamin Franklin lamented when asked what he and his fellow delegates had accomplished that summer in 1787: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
As John F. Kennedy famously said: “Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.” These words are part of the American spirit. And though decades old, they still resonate – especially when spoken to a room full of new Americans who know what it means to choose and commit to this country.
These ceremonies are a live lesson in civics. They remind all of us, whether we were born here or chose to be here, that citizenship is an active role. It asks something of us. And in return, it offers an opportunity to help shape American democracy.
So yes, the courtroom is the scene of many solemn moments – of winners and losers. But once a month, at a local school, county courthouse, or outdoor mall, we are reminded that what unites us is stronger than what divides us. These new citizens understand that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are now theirs too. And the past victories, and struggles, they have now inherited are a path to the bright promises of future.
