Although this makes sense as a cost-cutting move, something will be lost with the elimination of mass naturalization ceremonies. I attended one for a friend and found the pride and excitement of new U.S. citizens to be quite inspiring:
Tuesday's swearing-in ceremony for more than 1,700 people will mark the last time a federal judge presides over a large-scale naturalization ceremony inside Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium.
A U.S. District Court judge for the Eastern District of California has been presiding over large naturalization ceremonies in the auditorium since April 24, 2008.
In a cost-cutting move, the Court is ceded the authority to naturalize to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Sacramento Field Office, said a new release from Sharon Rummery, a USCIS public affairs officer.
Instead of a mass swearing-in ceremony, the ceremonies will now be done on a daily basis for people interviewed on the same day inside the field office.
