IOWA CUBS TO HOST CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY AT PRINCIPAL PARK
The Iowa Cubs — in partnership with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa — will welcome 29 candidates from six continents and 19 countries as new U.S. citizens during a special ceremony Thursday night at Principal Park celebrating
The Iowa Cubs — in partnership with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa — will welcome 29 candidates from six continents and 19 countries as new U.S. citizens during a special ceremony Thursday night at Principal Park celebrating Independence Day.
The ceremony will start at 6:35 p.m., prior to the Iowa Cubs game vs. the Omaha Storm Chasers.
This is the 16th consecutive year the Iowa Cubs have hosted the on-field pre-game event.
U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa Stephen Locher will oversee the ceremony.
The citizenship candidates originate from 19 countries: Burkina Faso, Burma, Chile, Congo (Kinshasa), Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Laos, Liberia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Venezuela and Vietnam.
The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by one of America’s newest citizens‚ Shane McQuillan from New Zealand, who will be among the 29 candidates at Principal Park.
There have been a total of 482 new citizens naturalized since the first on-field event was held September 4, 2009, at Principal Park.
In addition, more than 3,000 candidates have become citizens in various other non-game day ceremonies at Principal Park over the past four years.