JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars will hold it’s third naturalization ceremony this Sunday during halftime against the Cleveland Browns. The first naturalization ceremony was held in 2017 and has since become a Thanksgiving tradition in the River City.
The ceremony is a joint effort with the judges of the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, the Department of Homeland Security , and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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“We were so pleased to learn that the Jaguars wanted to continue the tradition of sharing this meaningful ceremony with their fans and broadcast audience by finding a way to conduct the ceremony within CDC guidelines and the Jaguars’ 2020 Stadium Protocols,” District Judge Marcia Morales Howard said.
The only difference in the ceremony this year is it will be staged on TIAA Bank Field’s Sky Terrace rather than the field. Naturalization is the final step to become a United States citizen.
Only immigrants who have worked for years to complete the arduous requirements of U.S. citizenship qualify for this momentous occasion to swear their allegiance to the United States and receive their naturalization certificates.
At the ceremony Judge Howard will administer the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America which says:
“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”
This year 51 northeast Florida residents from 24 different countries, ranging in age from 20 to 62, will become new citizens of the United States.