Seven become US citizens at Youngstown ceremony

Staff photo / Dan Pompili
Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Dan Dascenzo issues the oath of citizenship to seven people in the courtroom of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum on Wednesday.

YOUNGSTOWN — The United States is a few citizens richer today.

Seven people from seven different countries took their oaths as naturalized American citizens Wednesday before Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, with Mahoning County Clerk of Courts Dan Dascenzo administering the oath

“It is a great day for you and a great day for our country, and this community in particular, that you have chosen to join us,” Krichbaum said. “This is the land of the free and the home of the brave and we would like to thank you for choosing to live here.”

The new citizens are: Sreeharsha Vardhan Reddy Akkisani (India), Abdulrahman Adam Ibrahim (Sudan), Ahmad Nayef Ihssan Alshakhshir (Jordan), Anadely Juarez (Mexico), Chun Ding Lu (China), Janice Marian Black (Canada) and Shirsha Koirala (Nepal).

In addressing the guests of honor, Krichbaum directed their attention to the mural hanging in his courtroom, across from where they sat in the jury box.

Painted by CY Turner in 1908, and brought to the courtroom, the mural depicts one of the first trials in Mahoning County, wherein James Hillman — one of the very first settlers in the county, and a Revolutionary War veteran — convinced a Native American tribal leader to submit one of his community to a hearing after the man allegedly killed a settler and buried his body. The story goes that it was Hillman’s dog who found the settler’s remains, and the trial was held right at the scene of the crime, in the area of Salt Springs.

“Justice and the law are a great part of what this country is all about,” Krichbaum told the honorees. He shared with them the values and rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and impressed upon them the duties that come with those rights.

Not the least of which, he said, was voting.

“It is not just a right, but a duty,” he said. “You should be a part of the democracy of this country.”

The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Mahoning County Board of Elections hosted a table in the courthouse where several of the new citizens immediately registered to vote.

Janice Black of Austintown, who has lived in the United States for 70 years, said not voting was the one drawback to her life here.

“I’ve always felt like an American citizen but it was way past time to become one legally,” she said. “I’m still very excited about it.”

Others said they are looking forward to the new opportunities that citizenship offers.

“When you are an American citizen, and you go anywhere abroad, you are a different man; honestly, you’re viewed differently,” said Abdulrahman Ibrahim, who goes by his middle name, Adam.

Ibrahim, who hails from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, has been in the U.S. for eight years. He first came to Texas, then moved to the Mahoning Valley last year. He now resides in Akron.

Ibrahim works in the construction industry, traveling across much of the western United States working in landfills and oil fields.

He has a bachelor’s degree in finance from a university in the Philippines, but many of his credits will not transfer to American institutions. He said now that he is a citizen, it will be easier for him to complete the coursework to re-establish his degree here. Ultimately, he wants to obtain his master’s degree in finance and become a CPA.

Sreeharsha “Harsha” Vardhan Reddy Akkisani came to the U.S. 10 years ago as a graduate student at Youngstown State University, from a town in southern India, called Tirupati. He obtained a master’s degree in computer science engineering and now lives in Boardman, working as a software developer for Ford Motor Company.

Citizenship, for him, means more freedom and opportunity.

“It puts me outside the bubble of those constraints I had, and now I have more access to jobs, travel, business opportunities,” he said.

Akkisani said he was among those who took advantage of the voter registration table Wednesday, and Ibrahim said he was looking forward to registering as well.

Dascenzo and Krichbaum said citizenship ceremonies used to be more common, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted them. Dascenzo said this was the first one in more than four years.

Krichbaum said he was pleased to preside over the ceremony because of the “pomp and circumstance” it includes. He said he believes it impresses even more upon the new citizens how special it is to become naturalized in “the greatest country on Earth.”

“This court and this community welcome you now, my fellow Americans,” he told them.