A drive-in movie theater hosted an emotional citizenship ceremony on Sept. 18, which saw 150 people representing 50 different countries sworn in as citizens of the United States of America.
The ceremony took place at the Starlite Drive-In theater in Clermont County, Ohio, and was officiated by Judge Beth Buchanan. The day was a long time coming for many of the attendees who stood by their vehicles, in compliance with social distancing rules, spaced 6 feet apart and wearing masks.
Hordense Massa, originally from Cameroon, Central Africa, told the news outlet that she had waited over six years to be sworn in. She described feeling “very excited” and also “scared” to finally make her dream a reality.
“I’ve been here for seven years and it’s been a long process,” another attendee, Claudia Trenum, explained. “I’m very excited, it’s a big day.”
Maria Porter, who attended with her mother, said: “She’s so excited for our family. It’s completely—it’s a dream come true.”
The Sept. 18 ceremony was the third of its kind to take place at the Starlite Drive-In.
The drive-through-style oath takings are a 2020 phenomenon, a result of the pandemic and subsequent virus-containment measures implemented across the United States and the world. They have provided a novel solution to what was fast becoming a backlog of unfulfilled applications.
Madeline Kristoff, field officer for the San Diego U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, lauded the drive-through ceremonies as being “fun” and “a lot more personal, almost.”
Officers, she explained, “get to participate in ways they normally don’t get to ... And it’s really fun to talk to people who are driving through and get to hear a little of their stories.”
