This story was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com.
By Lillee Sheckles & Tyler Young
TheStatehouseFile.com
July 3, 2026
On Thursday, the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site hosted a naturalization ceremony celebrating not only America’s 250th birthday but also 75 people who officially became U.S. citizens.
While this is usually an annual event, the historic site didn’t host it in 2025 due to a federal shift in immigration policies.
“We always partner up with the federal court, and so we always take their direction for the event, and last year, in 2025, the court had advised us not to host it at that time,” said Charlie Hyde, CEO of the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.
The announcement that naturalization ceremonies would only take place in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field offices drew criticism at the time.
“But we’re happy to be able to return to our grounds and host it here again,” said Hyde.
Seventy-five individuals from across the globe were celebrated as they received their certificate of naturalization—the same week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold birthright citizenship. The event was presided over as usual by U.S. District Court Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
“Always in a democracy, we make this journey together, all of us finding our ways to widening the family circle and to make room for and to welcome new members just like you,” Barker said.
“You are welcomed here, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Indianapolis saw a high of 94 degrees Thursday, and hand fans distributed at the check-in table flapped incessantly under the white tent spread out on the Harrison house lawn. The hour-and-a-half-long ceremony saw recitations of America’s founding documents, a sing-along to “America the Beautiful,” and several speeches, including from Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsott.
“Your official title, whether it’s citizen, immigrant, resident or a combination of all three, does not change your position in this city, here in Indianapolis,” said Hogsett.
“Above all else, we are neighbors.”
Jana Lau and her parents, Lini and Bong, originally from Malaysia, said they were very excited to be U.S. citizens.
Jana Lau attended Emory University and works at Emory Healthcare.
“We’ve been dreaming of this for a long time,” Lau said. “My parents started the process when I was 2 years old. … I am 23 now.”
The Laus were looking forward to their U.S. semiquincentennial celebration at home.
“We’re gonna barbecue chicken, sausages, and we can’t wait to see the firework shows around the city,” said Lau.
Sharukh Khan and his wife, Sabine Rizwan, have been living in McCordsville but just became naturalized citizens after moving from Pakistan. They described their nearly 20-year-long journey to citizenship as a “puzzle being put together piece by piece.”
“It kind of felt impossible at the time, when we began 15 to 20 years ago, but every piece fell into place, kind of like a big puzzle, just piece by piece until we were finally finished,” Khan said.
Khan gave a speech during the ceremony, detailing what the American dream means to him, and he felt that it was just the beginning of what he can contribute as a new citizen.
“I wanted to be there to kind of share that happiness with everybody,” Khan said with a grin.
“What are the things that this country has given me, and what is it that I can contribute now as a citizen.”
Khan and Rizwan said that the first thing they are going to do as citizens is register to vote.
“We plan on leading by example and being more involved with the people in our city,” Rizwan said.
Stefan Leslie applied for citizenship twice after eight years of striving for his dream to live in America. His first time was stalled due to the COVID-19 quarantine.
Leslie did not let this setback stop him, though, calling himself as “resilient” and describing his “unwillingness to give up.”
“First thing I want to do … I’ll have to think about that,” Leslie said, laughing. “I’ll have to register to vote, that will probably be one of the first things.”
Ravneet Sekhon’s story started when she came to America as an international student and met her now husband.
“You know, I had just met him here and fell in love, and that’s when I decided to go ahead and do administrative status to become a citizen,” said Sekhon. “I think it’s a really great celebration because I know, for immigrants, they go through a lot of hardships and to feel celebrated is amazing.”
With Sekhon were her immigration attorneys, Dylanne Discher and Carolyn Grimes, who came to celebrate her achievement.
“These are the happy moments that we need to relish, especially right now in this difficult period for the immigrant community in general,” said Grimes. “Ravneet’s case was special because we thought we would have had the citizenship a long time ago. It really reinvigorates our spirits to keep helping defend the immigrant families in our community.”
Discher agreed.
“This is actually my favorite part of everything thing we do,” she said. “To see 75 people who probably have some really crazy stories of how they got here—so it’s really exciting to get to celebrate those people in the community.”
On Thursday, the League Of Women Voters of Indianapolis set up a table at the naturalization ceremony—part of the final step in making Indiana home for the 75 new citizens.
“We follow around these naturalization ceremonies to make sure we can register the voters who had just gotten naturalized,” said J.D Lawrence, a member of the Indianapolis league.
The group’s mission isn’t just about the voting, however; it’s also about the welcome members give at these events.
“We’re the first kind of welcoming these citizens see when they get naturalized,” said Lawerence. “We’re the first thing they come to when the event is over, and it’s a feel-good kind of day,”
Carmen Cordova is another member of the league who enjoys being a friendly face at these events.
“It’s great to tell them congratulations because they have made such a big accomplishment becoming a citizen,” said Cordova, “and it’s always my favorite part because you watch them work so hard.”
Lillee Sheckles and Tyler Young are reporters for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
