On Becoming an American

A reliable corespondent conveyed the following to me:

I was departing the federal courthouse in Brooklyn this morning and I ran into a smiling, obviously happy, polyglot group; Asians, Latinos, Caucasians, males and females from every continent. I had an idea as to what brought them to the steps of the courthouse, but, nosy person that I am, I sidled up to one man and asked why they were there.

"We have just been sworn in as citizens," replied the middle aged, obviously Latin man. I couldn't resist and I asked, "Oh, and how do you feel?"

With a huge smile he replied,"I feel very proud and I feel safe."