‘The honor is all mine,’ judge declares at Gulfport naturalization ceremony for 25

Tiny American flags were handed out as 25 immigrants became the newest naturalized American citizens in Gulfport on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel presided over the naturalization ceremony as immigrants from 11 countries: Honduras, Vietnam, Philippines, Guatemala, Nigeria, India, Brazil, Canada, China, Nicaragua and Albania, became citizens.

“The honor is all mine to be able to preside over this,” Judge McNeel said in an interview following the ceremony, “These people chose this country, and for some of them they chose and sacrificed a lot. They’re an inspiration to me and so many of us.”

Jenifer Brister, an immigrant from Honduras naturalized on Thursday, spoke of how grateful she was for the generosity and kindness shown to her along her journey to become an American citizen. Brister said that as an American citizen, she plans to start voting in elections to set an example for her daughters who were born in the U.S.

During the ceremony, McNeel, who was presiding over a naturalization ceremony for the first time, stepped away from the bench and took his judge robe off. Standing before the new citizens, he told them that America is a country in which “the ideals of freedom and equality bind us,” and those ideals are an experiment in government.

He told the newly minted Americans it was up to them to make sure those ideals remain and the American experiment survives.

Take a look at photos from the ceremony.

Hannah Ruhoff

Sun Herald