International adoptees take citizens' oath

Like a little Miss Liberty, 6-year-old Christina Alejandra Palmer wore a crown of red, blue and transparent beads for her big day Friday. Then she raised her right hand, with fingernails also painted in the American flag's colors, to make a serious oath.

The Guatemala native, a first-grader at Parliament Place Elementary in North Babylon, was among 15 children who came to this country through international adoptions and became U.S. citizens at a Manhattan ceremony Friday.

Like the other children, Christina did her best to repeat the promise that she will "support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies."

But it was her parents, fully aware of the day's significance, who wiped away tears.

Christina's mom, Janet Palmer, a crossing guard, hugged and kissed her. As they sung along to "Proud To Be An American" at the end of the ceremony, Palmer's eyes welled up.

"I'm so proud to see her experience this," said Palmer, 50. "I think of all the things many people have gone through to have America the way it is today."

Christina's dad, William Palmer, 58, a Nassau Community College professor, said the event was testament to "American exceptionalism that gives people like my daughter an opportunity to come here and build a better life for themselves."

Two other Long Island families were part of the naturalization ceremony at New York's immigration headquarters in downtown Manhattan, which held the event to celebrate international adoptions during National Adoption Month.

Lynbrook resident Lisa Barnett, whose 8-year-old daughter Emma came here from South Korea, said the rite of passage made her feel that her daughter was now "connected to the bigger community" of her country. "It's something to be thankful for," said Barnett, 49, a social worker.

Jake DeMaria, a 14-year-old freshman at Island Trees High School in Levittown who was born in South Korea, was there with his mom, Jennifer Chase, 46, an insurance company executive from Seaford.

In typical teenager fashion, DeMaria seemed to wonder what all the fuss was about. In his mind, he was already an American citizen because he was 6-months-old when his mother picked him up at Kennedy Airport in what she said was "the best day" of her life.

"It was nice," he said of the ceremony. Then he shrugged: "But I've been here all my life."

The group of young U.S. citizens ages 4 to 16 came to the New York metropolitan area from China, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Peru, Guatemala and South Korea.

Andrea Quarantillo, district director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, called them "the future of America" after the oath ceremony. "We see before us the diversity and cultural richness that makes America great."

The naturalization ceremony was the culmination of a long and costly process for their adoptive parents. Those who adopt children from other countries have to work with adoption agencies and attorneys to identify a needy child in a country with adoption treaties; obtain their legal custody and apply for a U.S. visa.

Once the adoption is final, the U.S. eventually will grant citizenship to adopted children who have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen.

The agency approved about 6,000 visa and citizenship petitions nationwide related to international adoptions in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.