For the second year in a row, the federal government has declined an invitation to swear in a group of new United States citizens at the Dunwoody Fourth of July Parade.
From 2015 to 2017, dozens of new citizens recited the Oath of Allegiance at the end of the parade, said Pam Tallmadge, a city councilwoman who also co-chairs the parade, which attracts tens of thousands of spectators.
But last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services backed out of performing the swearing-in. The agency said it was shrinking the number of off-site ceremonies because of “mission requirements and our allocation of resources,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last year.
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In April of this year, Tallmadge emailed USCIS asking if they would return to host the naturalization ceremony. “You all were missed last year,” she wrote.
A representative for the USCIS Atlanta field office replied and said it was not accepting the invitation, and that “although some ceremonies have been done as part of annual themes for one or more preceding years, ongoing theme ceremonies at a given location are never guaranteed.”
A spokeswoman for USCIS did not provide a further comment about the situation by press time.
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The field office is holding a swearing-in ceremony Wednesday morning for 49 people from 29 countries. Nationally, the agency plans to welcome nearly 7,500 new citizens in about 110 ceremonies from July 1 to 5.
Tallmadge estimated that during the first year of the Dunwoody parade’s naturalization ceremony, about 25 new citizens were sworn in. Eventually, it grew to about 80 people in 2017. The Dunwoody Fourth of July Parade is one of the largest Independence Day celebrations in the area.
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“The citizens of Dunwoody were thrilled to witness this remarkable ceremony. I wish every U.S. citizen could see one,” Tallmadge said, clarifying that her role with the parade is separate from her duties as a councilwoman. “In my opinion, what better venue than a Fourth of July parade, with 32,000 spectators down the parade route?”
She said she plans to ask again next year for the agency to bring the ceremony back to Dunwoody.
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