New U.S. citizens honored in Elgin

Fourteen recently naturalized U.S. citizens were honored Wednesday at the 20th annual citizenship recognition ceremony in Elgin.

Mayor David Kaptain said it's important to remember the sacrifices the new citizens made "to be part of us who were fortunate enough to be born here." The ceremony is traditionally held at the city council meeting closest to the Fourth of July.

David Sam, president of Elgin Community College, introduced the new citizens. In the past year, immigrants from Mexico, Uzbekistan, Guatemala, Pakistan and the Dominican Republic who live in the area have become new citizens, although not all were able to attend the Elgin ceremony, he said.

"For many of us American citizenship is a birthright. Something we sometimes take for granted," said Sam, who said he came from Ghana and became a citizen in 1988. "But for our honorees tonight it was a journey that varied for each one, and involved financial costs, hurdles ..."

New citizen Julian Hernandez, who said he has two associate's degrees from Elgin Community College, said citizenship comes with many powers, the most important one being the power to vote.

"You have to vote in elections - local, state and national. You have to vote especially in small elections, because it's very important."

Hernandez said he believes in being global citizens, and advocated giving back the community and do volunteerism, which he called "a muscle we need to exercise."

Hernandez also called on elected officials "to stop using our children as bargaining chips," alluding to the ongoing controversy about immigrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S. border.

"The issue is not how many citizens we have (in the United States). The issue is integrating the citizens into the country."