Priest in Diocese of Alexandria Becomes American Citizen

I am going through the Louisiana Catholic Papers that online and saw this interesting story from the Diocese of Alexandria that might be of interest to Louisiana Folks. A Priest from the Diocese of Alexandria Louisiana becomes a U.S. Citizen. It is located here on page 17 of The Church Today. (There is a picture) There are several other things of interest in this edition including some photographs of Hurricane Damage by Hurricane Gustav in the Diocese

Fr. Harold becomes U.S. citizen

Fr. Harold Imamshah, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Cloutierville and a native of Trinidad was sworn in Aug. 14 in Metairie, La., as a citizen of the United States of America.

The swearing-in ceremony took place in the office of U.S. Immigration Citizenship Services, where Fr. Harold was one of 67 people, representing 56 countries, who recited the Pledge of Allegiance and were sworn in as
new U.S. citizens.

“The whole process was very pleasant,” said Fr. Harold. “Everyone was so nice, warm, and welcoming. It dispelled all the fears I had heard about from others about the process of becoming a citizen.”

For Fr. Harold, the process took only six months and came about without a hitch. He attibutes this to an expert in Shreveport who prepared the forms for him. “Rosalba Quiroz, an attorney in the Diocese of Shreveport’s
Immigration Services office, filled out the forms for me,” he said. “Her expertise, knowledge of the process, and her excellent reputation in the ICS made it all so easy.”

Once the papers were filled, he was notified by the ICS that his application was accepted and invited to come to Metairie to take the citizenship test before being
sworn in.

Fr. Harold’s citizenship test was oral and “not hard at all.”

“I studied a booklet on American history that was given to me and studied the sample questions. It was not hard,” he said. But for others it was not so easy. Fr. Harold said he saw several people leaving the office in
tears.

He assumed they did not pass the test. Fr. Harold said that he is proud to be an American citizen,
although he still retains dual citizenship in Trinidad, his
homeland.

“I wanted U.S. citizenship for practical reasons,” he said. “Since I am a diocesan priest, it makes
sense to be able to retain permanent residency in the states as a citizen, instead of worrying about getting a green card every 10 years. My green card was up for renewal in 2008.”

But at the same time, he said he is very grateful for the opportunity to be a U.S. citizen. Hesaid he has received numerous emails from friends congratulating him on his new status.“

In all the e-mails I sent out, I ended them all with ‘God bless America,’” he said. “But my favorite response from one of my friends said, “God has blessed America your choice to stay here!”