Children Welcomed as American Citizens at New Holtsville Immigration Center

Fourteen children from Long Island were welcomed as American citizens in a ceremony at the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Holtsville Friday.

USCIS offered an open house, welcoming community members to the building, which opened in October and is the first of its kind in Suffolk County.

From mock immigration tests to tours and general information sessions, the point was to ease the naturalization process for those involved, said Andrea Quarantillo, the USCIS District Director of New York.

“We’re trying to make the process as transparent as we possibly can,” added Charles Akalski, the field office director in Holtsville. “There are no secrets.” 

Among the 14 who were sworn in as American citizens were five children from China who were adopted by Richard and Vicki Van Nostrand of Hauppauge.

Brendan, Skylar, Julia, Ethan and MaZhu, who range from ages 8 through 11, have joined seven others who the Van Nostrands adopted over the past 20 years.

“It’s very exciting to be done with all the paperwork and have the kids be recognized as U.S. citizens,” said Vicki, a physical therapy assistant.

The Van Nostrands have no magical elixir when it comes to raising so many children, they just understand that being flexible in life really helps.

“Some days are better than others,” Vicki said. “We try to take it one day at a time and hope everyone doesn’t have a bad day at the same time.”

Are they done adopting?

“I don’t know,” she said. “We’ll leave that door open.”

Julia, 9, who attends Mount Pleasant Elementary School in the Smithtown School District and the most talkative of the children, is happy to have new playmates, ones she can call her brothers and sisters.

“Normally I didn’t have a lot of friends to play with back in China because I didn’t go to school,” she said. “I was shy when I first got here and then I got used to it. I’m excited.”

Quarantillo said USCIS is opening facilities in Long Island City, Brooklyn and the Bronx over the next few years, eventually offering five locations in the New York metropolitan area.

“We’ll be well positioned,” she said.

Rep. Tim Bishop (D- Southampton) addressed the crowd during the citizenship ceremony and told the children the most important thing they can do as Americans is becoming involved, informed members of their community.

“This is a nation built on hard work, built on sacrifice,” he said. “Learn as much as you can and use it for the country that needs you. In order for us to remain a preeminent force in this world we need every bit of talent we can get.”