Students Participate in Naturalizations on Constitution Day and Citizenship Day

Students will participate in naturalization ceremonies across the nation throughout September as part of a living civics lesson on citizenship. Federal courts are conducting more than 50 naturalization ceremonies in September to observe Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, which is officially celebrated on September 17.

In many ceremonies, students are leading the Pledge of Allegiance, singing the U.S. National Anthem, or writing welcome letters to give to the new citizens they meet at the event.

Some of the well-known sites are the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas; USS Missouri battleship in Honolulu, Hawaii; and Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest home in Forest, Virginia.

“This year, student participation is the focus of the federal courts' observance of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day at naturalization ceremonies across the nation,” said U.S. District Court Judge Rodney W. Sippel, of the Eastern District of Missouri.  “Students are a central part of these living civics lessons.”

“At ceremonies in every Circuit of the federal judiciary, young people will participate in these community-building events in significant and visible ways.  Through this real-life involvement in the citizenship process, students will come to a greater appreciation of what it means to be an American citizen.”

Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is observed nationally every September 17, marking the date that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the nation’s founding document in 1787. In 2004, Congress mandated that schools receiving federal funding provide education about the Constitution to commemorate its principles on the anniversary day.

In 2014, the federal courts began what is a growing tradition of linking Constitution Day and Citizenship Day to a nationally organized series of naturalizations. An estimated 8,500 new citizens were naturalized last year in nearly 30 federal court ceremonies.

The highlight is the oath ceremony, during which immigrants swear their allegiance to the United States and receive their naturalization certificate. This is the final step in becoming a U.S. citizen. Those naturalized will be able to vote, serve on juries, apply for a U.S. passport, and enjoy all the other rights and privileges of U.S. citizens.

Learn more about the judiciary’s commemoration of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, and explore other court-focused educational programs and resources.

List of Naturalization Sites

(current as of Sept. 8, 2015; events are scheduled for Sept. 17, unless otherwise listed)

Anchorage, Alaska

Birmingham, Alabama

Los Angeles, California (Sept. 22, two ceremonies)

Sacramento, California (two ceremonies)

Denver, Colorado (Sept. 25)

Hartford, Connecticut (Sept. 24, two ceremonies)

Washington, D.C.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Sept. 18)

Jacksonville, Florida (Sept. 24) 

Miami, Florida (Sept. 11) 

Pensacola, Florida (Sept. 18)

West Palm Beach, Florida (Sept. 11 and 25)

Columbus, Georgia (Sept. 8) 

Atlanta, Georgia (Sept. 11)

Honolulu, Hawaii

Nampa, Idaho

Chicago, Illinois

Indianapolis, Indiana

South Bend, Indiana (Sept. 18)

Des Moines, Iowa

West Branch, Iowa

Topeka, Kansas

Portland, Maine

St. Paul, Minnesota (two ceremonies)

Oxford, Mississippi

St. Louis, Missouri

Greenbelt, Maryland (Sept. 14)

Four Corners, New Mexico (Sept. 15)

Las Cruces, New Mexico (Sept. 25)

Santa Fe, New Mexico (Sept. 3)

Manhattan, New York (Sept. 24)

Rome, New York

Asheville, North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina

Moorhead, Minnesota (District of North Dakota)

Mentor, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Providence, Rhode Island

Charleston, South Carolina

Knoxville, Tennessee (Sept. 15)

Dallas, Texas (Sept. 24)

San Antonio, Texas

Salt Lake City, Utah

Forest, Virginia

Spokane, Washington

Richland, Washington

Milwaukee, Wisconsin