A naturalization ceremony was held on October 25, 2024, at the Fall River Justice Center, marking the annual Cultural Appreciation Day. Jennifer Sullivan, Clerk of Courts for Bristol County, welcomed attendees and explained the significance of the event. The ceremony commenced with the presentation of colors by the Durfee High School NJROTC and a performance of the national anthem by guest soloist Rachel Raposa. Scott Hooks from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services presented a motion to the Honorable Rafi Yessayan, Justice of the Superior Court, for the naturalization of 25 applicants. Justice Yessayan granted the motion, and Ms. Sullivan administered the Oath of Allegiance to the new citizens. Justice Yessayan delivered remarks, expressing pride in the new citizens' accomplishments and sacrifices, drawing on his own experience as an immigrant. He acknowledged the extensive work of the probation department, led by Lian Blackberg, in organizing the Cultural Appreciation Day, and recognized several local dignitaries, including Mayor Paul Coogan and State Representative Carole Fiola. Certificates of naturalization were then presented to each of the 25 new citizens. The ceremony concluded with the Pledge of Allegiance, a rendition of "God Bless America" by Rachel Raposa, and an invitation to a cultural food spread, followed by the adjournment of the Superior Court.
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hear ye hear ye hear ye all persons having anything to do before The Honorable rafian Justice of the superior court now sitting at Fall River for the purpose of naturalization draw near give your attendance and you shall be heard God save the commo of Massachusetts the sitting of this honorable court is now in session good afternoon what a beautiful day to become citizens my name is Jennifer Sullivan
0:35and I am the clerk of courts for Bristol County on behalf of Superior Court welcome to the Fall River Justice Center on this very special occasion we do this naturalization ceremony every year as part of our cultural appreciation day um that the probation department works really hard uh to put on here um and on I know that I speak for all of us in saying that it is true a privilege to be
1:01part of your journey to citizenship and enriching our community with your beautiful diversity so thank you and congratulations to each one of you at this time I would ask the dery high school njrc to please present the colors
1:45colors P left face fre colors and now for the singing of our national anthem I'd like to invite to the podium our guest soloist Miss Rachel Raposa good morning feel free to sing along with me if you'd like if you know it oh say can you see by the dawn Li what so proudly we ha at the Twilight last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the peress
2:44Fire or the red parts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bomb bursting in air gave prove through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangle bner yet W or the land of the free and the home of the
3:45brave ready cut right Face Forward March
4:08thank you please be seated at this time for presentation of a motion to the court I call to the podium Mr Scott hooks from the United States citizenship and immigration service and The Honorable RFI assain good afternoon my name is Scott Hooks and I'm pleased to represent United States citizenship and immigration services within the Department of Homeland Security at these proceedings
4:40today your honor there are 25 applicants for naturalization present here today who have been duly examined under the provisions of the immigration and nationality Act of 1952 as amended they have been found to be well qualified for United States citizenship at this time I respectfully move that you request the clerk of the courts to administer the oath of allegiance to all 25 applicants thus bestow upon them one
5:08of our nation's highest honors United States citizenship it is with great pleasure that I I would that motion allow thank you your
5:26honor will all applicants for citizenship please St stand and raise your right hands all right this is the moment you've been waiting for so nice and Loud repeat after me I hereby declare on oath that I absolutely and entirely renounce I absolutely entirely rounce all Allegiance and Fidelity all Al and to any foreign Prince state or sovereignty foreign Prince state or Sovereign of whom or which I have here
6:10to whom or I have been a subject or citizen is subject to a citizen that I will support and defend that I will support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States the Constitution and the law of the United against all enemies both foreign and domestic enies that I will bear true faith in allegiance to the same Al that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States willar arms on of the
6:50United St States when required by law La that I will perform non-combatant service I will in the armed forces of the United States the ared of the United States when required by law that I will perform work of national importance I will perform work ofal under civilian direction under civilian Direction when required by law when Reed by law and that I take this obligation freely I take this obligation freely
7:28without any mental reservation without any or purpose of evasion or purpose of EV so help me God so help me congratulations my fellow Americans and now it is my great honor and privilege to invite to the podium the presiding Justice in this special sitting of the Superior Court and also serving as our regional administrative Justice for Bristo County The Honorable Rafi aayan for a few featured
8:10remarks think I'll just stand right here uh um so uh welcome everyone uh to the Fall River Justice Center um and welcome to the Fall River Justice Center on one of the greatest days that we have here every year uh which is our cultural appreciation day um it's um one day that we get to we do it all the time we celebrate all our differences every day but it's a day that we really truly get
8:34to uh celebrate everybody's culture everybody's differences um we have food from all around the world we have entertainment from all around the world uh but the centerpiece of this day is always uh this ceremony um so um I'm I'm so proud to be a part of the ceremony today as you all become citizens um I want to uh uh recognize I want to thank uh the members of of the uh rooc uh for
9:01a great job today I want to recognize that we've got kids from the Doran School here today um welcome thank you for being here um and just a little bit about this cultural appreciation day this is uh a lot of hard work goes into this and um the uh our probation department does a ton of work to get all this done um and I make a lot of decisions every day as aob
9:30uh one of the best decisions I made was uh Lian blackberg he's the head of our probation department he does an incredible job he has an incredible staff um all of his assistants first assistant um uh everyone in that department does a great job and they all get together to put you saw the flags out there all the food uh they've done so much work to get this all done today so uh it really is all
9:58the work that they put in for this um I also want to recognize um there are uh uh some local dignitaries the mayor is here mayor Paul Coogan uh welcome I know State C fol is here um we also have I think I'm not sure if uh the Fall River superintendent of schools Tracy Curley I know she was planning to be here maybe later okay all right not here yet um uh we do have a
10:31trial court administrator Tommy andrino hiding back there thank you for being here uh we have pamon Eiffel the the head of our probation department Statewide uh we're fortunate to have him with us here today and thank you Jen Sullivan our Clerk of Courts um I don't know if anyone's aware of this but she's uh the first woman to serve as a clerk of courts for Bristol County um and I also want to recognize um
11:09shamal Candy pa uh one of our Citizens Great uh so she is with the Army Reserve right National Guard Army National Guard all right um so uh welcome everyone and this is uh one of the best days that I get to uh as a judge um we don't usually see people on their best day they're you know the victim of a crime the witness to a crime uh they're a defendant and
11:37custody in the dark um people aren't usually having a good day when they come to court this is uh whenever we do these ceremonies these are one day where um everybody's happy it's a it's a day of Celebration Day of joy to be with your families uh and to recognize your accomplishments all the hard work you put in uh to become a US citizen um and you know coming from all the different
11:57backgrounds that you've all come from um I know what an incredible sacrifice you've all made um so uh this this is the the one of the best things about my job uh that I get to do to preside over these ceremonies and welcome new citizens to the United States so uh thank you all and congratulations uh for all of your accomplishments um I came here as an IM immigrant myself when I
12:20was two um so I know you know what you're doing so good job yeah I sorry um I won't S any more so um so with that I just want to uh again welcome you all as new citizens to the United States um and I hope you stay out afterwards uh to celebrate with all of us um with all the different food that we have from around the world all right thank
12:51you thank you judge say uh we'll now present the certificates to our uh citizens so when your name is called you can uh step forward and receive your certificate also feel free to take photos family members um so if I could ask everyone to join me down here by the
13:20podium all right so when we when we call your name please come forward um and we will thank you uh personally and and give you your certificates so um shal candy
13:44Paul okay we we go order all right um Ming
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15:40Muhammed Atif sudari
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17:15Carlos Alberto barela Al
17:37Ola FR Muhammad abashir
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18:21gravita Suza Netto
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21:21notr once again congratulations to all our new citizens
21:50and now if I can ask our newest Americans and everyone in the audience to join me in the pledge of allegiance to our flag IED Ali to the flag of the United States of
22:13America justice for all thank you now once again for a rendition of God Bless America I invite to the podium our talented guest soloist Miss Rachel Raposa I'm coming I'm back did you miss me this is a great song This has a whole new meaning for all of you now this song If you don't know the song you guys at Doran School better know this song you can sing it with me if you don't know
22:41the song the last line of this song is God bless America my home sweet home this is your home now don't make myself cry I'm going to make myself cry today so feel free to sing along with me if you would you guys sing along with me nice and Loud okay God bless America land that I love stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above from the mountains to the
23:17Prairies to the oceans white with f God bless America my home home sweet home nice and Loud God bless America my home sweet home good job congratulations thank you Rachel and before we conclude this special sitting of the superior court again thank you to all of our local dignitaries for coming families um and again we uh have a the probation department has put out a beautiful spread uh feel free to enjoy
24:05after the ceremony um and congratulations once again and on behalf of Superior Court we look forward to seeing you again when you report for jury duty at this time Mr prior please adjourn the special sitting of the Superior Court hear ye hear ye hear you all persons having anything to do before The Honorable rafian Justice of the superior court for the purpose of naturalization depart as
24:38a sitting of this honorable court is now adjourned God save the commo of Massachusetts and congratulations everyone