CINCINNATI — Rain is never a good sign at a baseball game, and on Tuesday, the Reds’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals was postponed due to widespread showers. But for a group of people waiting to become U.S. citizens, the rainy day didn’t stop them from having their moment in the sun.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie K. Bowman of the Southern District of Ohio led 48 petitioners through the Oath of Allegiance to become American citizens.
Husband and wife Victor Morales from Guatemala and Elisa Boscolo from Italy shared the moment together — making the ceremony more memorable.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Boscolo said. “I think it’s the way I imagined to do that. It feels special because also our daughter who is five years old, she was born here. So now, the whole family and all comes together to become American.”
Boscolo works for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Morales owns a jewelry store in Clifton. He said completing the journey to citizenship makes them feel like they belong.
“It’s very special. We are very happy and smiling,” Morales said. “We just feel happy, I don’t know how to explain but we just feel great.”
Bowman is excited to see the ceremonies move forward despite the challenges of the pandemic.
“We hopefully are starting a tradition with the Reds,” Bowman said. “We had a ceremony here in 2019, and this ceremony this year. It’s really great, even though were socially distanced and outside it’s really great to see people in person.”
Another person gaining citizenship was Nelly Del Carmen Turner, a Spanish teacher from Springboro and native of Mexico.
She’s been living in the country for 12 years already and said becoming a U.S. citizen is life-changing.
“It’s going to be a big change,” Del Carmen Turner said. “Now I’m going to be able to vote which is one of the main important things. And also for my kids I will be recognized like an American citizen.”
The new citizens sang the national anthem and took pictures with their new documents and Bowman before leaving the stadium. Their tickets to watch the Reds were valid for Wednesday’s contest with St. Louis.
