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LAC executive director welcomed new citizens individually, presenting each with a certificate. |
Plainfield's Latin American Coalition (LAC) welcomed more than a hundred new citizens and their families, friends and supporters at a reception and banquet at Giovanna's on Sunday.
Council President Adrian Mapp gave welcoming remarks and noted the growth of Hispanic population in Plainfield, indicating that the next decennial Census may show Hispanics to account for about 60 percent of the city's residents.
The room crackled with emotion as LAC executive director Flor Gonzalez read off the names of more than one hundred new citizens and invited them to the podium amid applause to receive a certificate.
Many gave Flor a big hug and took the microphone to say a few words of thanks to their families and friends and to Flor for her continuous support and encouragement -- one gentleman punching the air for emphasis as he repeated her mantra in Spanish: Study hard! Learn English! Become a citizen!
For reasons that no one understood, there was no representative from Sen. Bob Menendez' staff present, though his office had been notified of the event and invited to send a representative. Strange circumstance considering the Senator stands for re-election this year and the LAC consistently generates more successful citizenship applications than any other Plainfield service group and sees to it that newly minted citizens are registered to vote.
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4 comments:
Menendez: Just an example of how important Plainfield is to the State (and national) Democrat Party.
Hey Dan
They make autofocus cameras now
Kudos to the Latin American Coalition for all its good works helping immigrants become citizens.
Randy Schaeffer, Chair
El Centro Hispanoamericano
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