New US citizens talk about ICE, Trump & freedom at Macon naturalization ceremony
An Indian mother said it was much harder to become a United States citizen in Georgia than it was for her family members before President Donald Trump’s first term in office.
Bharti Patel was one of 22 foreign nationals from 15 countries who became U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony Wednesday at the Macon federal courthouse.
“My family is here so I came over here. I’m happy,” the 52-year-old said, minutes after she received her citizenship certificate and took an oath of allegiance to the U.S.
A feeling of patriotism filled the room as the student color guard from Howard High School marched into the courtroom carrying American flags and rifles. A pastor prayed for the petitioners’ peace and strength under God. The ceremony happens annually in Macon, usually for people wanting to change their name while becoming a citizen, according to Kim Tavalero, a courtroom deputy.
Immigration enforcement under Trump
Bharti Patel moved from India to the U.S. in 2015 — two years before Trump was first inaugurated. The Athens resident looked down and shook her head when asked about Trump’s immigration enforcement measures.
“It is a lot. My family says it used to be really easy like 10, 15 years ago before all of this,” Maitri Patel, Bharti’s 28-year-old daughter, said regarding Trump’s immigration enforcement measures. “There are more requirements now.”
Maitri Patel, who joined her mother at the courthouse, said her mother had to have better reading and writing skills, and know more answers to questions than their relatives.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement has stiffened its review of citizenship applications under Trump’s return to office, according to The Immigrant’s Journal Legal & Educational Fund, an investigative news outlet.
New and potential obstacles include longer processing times and “more vetting” for legal permanent residents, NBC reported. ICE has also increased its investigations and arrests related to alleged immigration fraud.
“I can’t imagine how the people getting arrested feel,” Maitri Patel said. “It’s terrible what’s happening.”
In a recent case, Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder, former Columbia University graduate student and pro-Palistinian activist was arrested by ICE as the government sought to deport him.
The Trump Administration accused him of leading “activities aligned to Hamas,” and a legal document accused him of immigration fraud, CBS News reported. However, civil rights groups contend that Khalil was wrongfully punished and that his arrest violated free speech rights under the First Amendment.
Fleeing a monarchy
Kannika Watts, 43, moved from Thailand to the U.S. around 17 years ago to gain freedom of speech. She was granted citizenship at Wednesday’s ceremony.
“Here you can say whatever you want. It’s different from my country,” Watts said. “You cannot say anything bad to government.”
Civil liberties in Thailand restrict criticism and news coverage of the government and monarchy, according to the U.S. Department of State’s Country Report on Human Rights Practices. Activists and journalists face “arrest, surveillance, extralegal harassment and violent attacks,” according to Freedom House, a Washington D.C. nonprofit focused on political speech.
Watts applauded Trump’s management of the country as a whole.
“I love him,” Watts told The Telegraph. “I know he’s a businessman. He’s smart. He can do what another one cannot do.”
She just hopes her citizenship will allow her 14-month-old daughter to have a “healthy, good life.”
Federal Judge Tilman E. Self III wiped tears from his eyes during a speech praising the 22 petitioners’ willingness to move to the U.S. They emigrated from Brazil, Burma, China, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
“Divisiveness is just a necessary symptom of one of the values that we cherish as a free people,” Self said. “Well sometimes lost in all the noise is just how remarkably unified we are.”
He spoke for three minutes about the power of many U.S. legislative and judicial processes, including due process, freedom of speech and the press, innocent until proven guilty, public trials and probable cause.
He closed with themes of diversity and voting rights.
“We believe that no one, no one, should be denied the right to vote because of their race, gender or national origin…,” Self said. “We don’t have second class citizens here, and when you hear someone suggest otherwise, know they have a right to think that way but they’re just wrong.”
The ceremony came weeks after Trump signed an executive order that would require voters to show proof of citizenship and have states remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Voting rights and immigration advocates say the ruling could restrict millions of people from voting, and “Trump lacks the legal authority to make such changes,” NPR reported.
Self told The Telegraph his speech was not shade at Trump’s restrictions on diversity or voting laws, but rather to U.S.-born citizens who take their liberties for granted.
“I think people run this country down for no reason,” Self said. “I just happen to be lucky and born here, but they choose it… They’re probably more proud than the average citizen.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM.