Multnomah Bar Association, OR Contact: Samuel C. Kauffman Multnomah Bar Assoc. Section for Young Lawyers 1020 SW Taylor, Suite 330, Portland, OR 97205 Activity Summary: As part of its yearly Community Law Week, the Multnomah Bar Assoc. Young Lawyers Section, in conjunction with the Portland-Guadalajara Sister City Assoc., presented a special naturalization ceremony at the Portland Cinco de Mayo festival. The goals of the ceremony were to raise public awareness about the naturalization process, as well as to recognize and celebrate with the naturalization candidates. Activity Narrative: The Young Lawyers Section of the Multnomah Bar Association submits one aspect of our Community Law Week program for your consideration -- a naturalization ceremony planned in conjunction with the Portland-Guadalajara Sisters Cities Association and Immigration and Naturalization Services. The goals of the ceremony were to raise public awareness about the naturalization process and the rights and privileges enjoyed by the United States citizens, as well as to recognize and celebrate with citizenship candidates. The naturalization ceremony was designed to achieve those goals, and did so, in several respects. To maximize public access to the ceremony, it was held outside the federal courthouse at a highly visible an accessible site--Portland's Cinco de Mayo festival in downtown Portland's Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The Cinco de Mayo festival is sponsored by the Portland-Guadalajara Sister City Association, which provided facilities for the naturalization ceremony and additional publicity. The ceremony was held under a large white tent, on the main stage of the festival, which provided ample seating for observers. May 1, 1997 was selected as the date of the event. As the first day of the festival, admission was free, and many school groups visited the festival that day. To further increase public access, the ceremony was scheduled from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. so that people working downtown could watch the ceremony during lunch hour. The Young Lawyers Section worked with Immigration and Naturalization Services, which identified and acted as an intermediary for the 23 individuals who took the oath of allegiance at the ceremony. The ceremony itself was planned with two purpose in mind: imparting information to the public and recognizing the new citizens. The ceremony opened with The National Anthem sung by Ruben Fonseca, a music student at Portland State University. Following the anthem and opening remarks by Ed Harnden, President of the Multnomah Bar Association, the Honorable Owen M. Panner, United States District Court Judge for the district of Oregon, administered the oath after brief remarks on the privileges of citizenship and the pleasure with which he performed this function. Following the oath of allegiance, Judge William J. Keys of Multnomah County Circuit Court , himself a naturalized citizen, gave a keynote speech. Judge Keys proposed that citizenship provides opportunities rather than guarantees of success and illustrated the opportunities with reference to the achievements of several naturalized and second-generation citizens to take advantage of the privileges of citizenship, especially voting and serving as a juror, emphasizing that their input into the political process is valued highly. The ceremony concluded with two songs from Portland's Martin Luther King, Jr. Choir. The choir, which was founded over ten years ago, consists of 50 children between the ages of 4 and 11, it has received national attention, performing in President Bush's inaugural parade and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday celebration in Atlanta. The songs performed by the children,"Colors" and "I Believe I Can Fly," reflected themes of diversity and hope. After the ceremony, the Portland Americanization Council provided refreshments for the new citizens and their friends and family. As a result of cooperation between the Young Lawyers Section, the Sister Cities Association and the Portland Americanization Council, the sole expenditure from the community Law Week budget was for bus transportation for the choir. In response to advance publicity, The Oregonian, Oregon's largest newspaper, sent a photographer and reporter to cover the event, The following day, a photograph from the ceremony with the reference to Community Law Week appeared on the front page of the paper, and the cover of the Metro section featured an article profiling two of the new citizens. The ceremony received radio coverage as well: news radio station KEX interviewed several of the new citizens live on the air. Through public access and media coverage, the naturalization ceremony raised public awareness about the naturalization process and the rights and privileges of citizenship. In addition, it fostered a continuing relationship between the Young Lawyers Section and the Portland-Guadalajara Sisters Cities Association, INS, and the Portland Americanization Council. Due to the Young Lawyers Section's efforts in planning the ceremony, the Portland-Guadalajara Sister Cities Association recognized the Multnomah Bar Association with a certificate of appreciation. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization