Area residents become U.S. citizens in courthouse ceremony
They came from all corners of the globe.
They came from Thailand and Taiwan, from Jamaica and Germany and El Salvador and Afghanistan.
And on Friday afternoon, 27 people from these places and others became United States citizens in a ceremony that took place at the Washington County Courthouse.
Presided over by U.S. District Judge Robert Colville, naturalization ceremonies typically happen around Constitution Day, which was Thursday and commemorates the day the Constitution was signed in Philadelphia in 1787. This is the second time in as many years there has been a naturalization ceremony in Washington – the last one was May 1, 2025, to coincide with Law Day.
“We look forward to all the contributions you will make as U.S. citizens,” said Washington County Judge Valarie Costanzo before the 27 candidates took the oath that made them U.S. citizens. Their status as U.S. citizens was sealed when Colville pronounced, “I hereby declare you are citizens of the United States of America.”
In an address after they took the oath, the new citizens were told by Antoinette Fitch, president of the Washington County League of Women Voters, that “America has been enriched by people just like you.”
One of the new citizens was Ellen Krichbaum, who hails from Germany but has lived in the Fayette County community of Fairchance for more than 30 years. Another was Sonnieboy Blanco, a 30-year-old alumnus of Washington & Jefferson College from the Ivory Coast. He is the head wrestling coach now at W&J, and explained that he would eventually like to hold elected office in this country.
“I want a government position eventually,” he said.
The other new citizens also came from Britain, Brazil, Australia, China, Fiji, Mexico, Nepal and Peru.