45 new citizens are welcomed to the U.S. in a naturalization ceremony in Berks

Apr. 6—Jhonathan Hernandez Rodriguez sat on a bench near the back of a Berks County courtroom Wednesday afternoon, seeming both nervous and excited.

In a few moments, he would be standing with his right hand raised, pledging allegiance along with 44 others to the United States. He would be becoming an American citizen.

It's a moment he's been waiting for his whole life.

The 33-year-old Reading resident moved to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic when was just 12. For the most part, it's the only home he's ever known.

"I've lived here my whole life," he said. "I don't know much about where I'm from."

But until Wednesday, something was missing for Jhonathan. He didn't feel fully American; he didn't feel the same as the people around him.

"When I'd fly back into the country, you see everybody go this way and you have to go that way," he said, describing the trip through customs as a non-citizen. "Aren't we all going to the same place?"

That won't be the case anymore. After officially becoming a citizen on Wednesday, things will be different for Jhonathan.

"There will be more opportunities, I'll be able to vote," he said. "There's a lot of thing I want to do."

That includes celebrating his new status with a vacation, probably to Mexico.

"I'm stamping that passport," he said with a smile.

And, when he does, it won't be in a special line. It will be alongside his fellow Americans.

Jhonathan's story was just one of many that could be found inside the fifth-floor courtroom Wednesday. Each man and woman preparing to take their oath had their own, unique tale of how and why they reached that point.

For Nataliia Tucker, it was one of love.

Back in 2017, the Ukrainian woman married an American. And that Christmas she and her daughter, Yeva, moved to the U.S.

She would later also bring her mother over.

"We're all together now," Nataliia said, her daughter translating for her.

Nataliia said she has wanted to become a citizen since first moving to the U.S., and was overcome with joy that it had finally happened.

"Because it's freedom," she said. "We feel protected here."

Yeva couldn't help but smile as she watched her mother take the oath, blowing kisses to her as she posed for photos with her fellow new citizens following the ceremony.

"I'm really happy seeing her become a citizen," she said. "It's really important."

Alonso Cruz's path to the U.S. started out with a job opportunity but ended up with wedding bells.

After graduating college, he took a job working at a nuclear power plant in his hometown of Alto Lucero, Mexico, the only such facility in that country.

In 2003, he got an opportunity to come work as a contractor for a company that operates nuclear power plants in the U.S. He jumped at the offer.

While working there, he met a co-worker named Tara. They hit it off, eventually getting married.

With a new American wife, Alfonso decided it was time to make his stay in the U.S. permanent. He applied for a new job as well as citizenship.

"This means belonging to something, that has been very important to me," the 46-year-old Douglassville resident said moments before taking his oath. "I always wanted to feel like I belong, to have a feeling of being part of something important."

Alfonso said he is excited for the new opportunities he will have as a U.S. citizen.

"Now I can start experiencing the things only citizens can do, like being on a jury or voting or helping to work in an election," he said.

As for what he expected to feel as he walked out of the courtroom a newly minted citizen?

"It's going to be overwhelming," he said. "I'm sure I'll feel like I did when I graduated college, that it's a big accomplishment."

Wednesday's naturalization ceremony featured 45 people from 14 countries of origin becoming U.S. citizens. The proceedings were overseen by Judge Eleni Dimitriou Geishauser, and state Rep. Mark Gillen served as the keynote speaker.

The ceremony was organized by the Berks County Bar Association.