A million unborn tomorrows

Our current immigration wave is the seed of our future | Mindy Belz

Saul Young/Knoxville News Sentinel

Cynics among us will say it's an apt way to start life as an American: waiting in line.

That's what 146 citizen hopefuls did last month at a swearing-in ceremony I attended at the U.S. district courthouse in Knoxville, Tenn. Under strict instructions they began arriving at 11 a.m. After passing through security, they waited at a little white desk to turn in their green cards, and immigration officials in turn handed them a seat number. They filed into the red cushioned rows of the auditorium to wait some more—two hours, in fact, for most of them.

They came in dresses, pants, suits, and shirtsleeves—young, old, pregnant, and one in a wheelchair. They came from 35 countries and bore names like Felicia, Julip, Louis, Ravi, Maritz, Marguerite, Elizabeth, Ninchu, Younis, Babylon, and Elsadid. Half a dozen had filed papers to have their name changed along with taking the oath, and four filed to take what are called "modified oaths." For religious reasons these would not agree to bear arms on behalf of the United States.