Each year in the United States we celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. This is a federal observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. We celebrate each year on Sept. 17, as this was the day the Founding Fathers signed the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787.
The origin of this day is said to date back to 1911 when several Iowa schools first celebrated Constitution Day. Constitution Day received its first national recognition with help from a committee known as “The Sons of the American Revolution,” formed to promote the Constitution. The committee included well-known figures such as Calvin Coolidge, John D. Rockefeller and General John Pershing.
The official law establishing the present holiday was created in 2004 with the passage of an amendment in Congress by Senator Robert Byrd. The act creating the observance also mandated that all publicly funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution each year on Sept. 17.
For the past 227 years, the Constitution, along with the Bill of Rights and other amendments, have defined our government and helped to protect our basic civil liberties. For this reason, U.S. citizens are encouraged on this day to reflect on the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and what it means to be a U.S. citizen.
U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services also marks this occasion each year by holding naturalization ceremonies across the country. This year they will induct more than 27,000 new citizens in more than 160 naturalization ceremonies occurring from Sept. 17 through Sept. 23. Some ceremonies will take place in historic locations such as the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, National Constitution Center, Battleship North Carolina, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse and The Alamo, to name a few.
USCIS also encourages new citizens to share their experiences on Facebook and Twitter using the recommended hashtag #newUScitizen. You can access the USCIS Facebook page at https://Users/davidlewis/Sites/berardi/app/public.facebook.com/uscis and the USCIS Twitter page at https://twitter.com/USCIS.
Following are links to some of our previous blogs on becoming a U.S. citizen: https://berardiimmigrationlaw.com/immigration-blog/how-do-i-obtain-u-s-citizenship https://berardiimmigrationlaw.com/us-citizenship/1171
If you have questions on becoming a U.S. citizen, please schedule a consultation with one of our knowledgeable attorneys today!
Ready to have Berardi on your side?
Whether you’re a business looking to hire or a professional hoping to relocate, immigration law can be complicated. But you don’t have to do it alone. Put our experience to work for you.