NJ Mayor Cancels Naturalization Event After Feds Ban Prayer
A New Jersey mayor recently canceled a naturalization event in his town after federal authorities said he could not hold a prayer at the ceremony.
Mayor Daniel Reiman of Carteret, N.J., told local media outlets that officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would not allow him to hold a non-denominational prayer at the beginning of Saturday's ceremony that would celebrate the naturalization of U.S. citizens at Cateret's Burough Hall. For this reason, Reiman canceled the naturalization event and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services moved their ceremony to their Newark office.
"I wasn't going to budge," Reiman told The Star-Ledger, adding that nondenominational prayers have long been a part of official town functions. "It's certainly part of the fabric of our community."
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Reiman added that he thought the agency was overstepping its power bounds by demanding that prayer not be part of the Cateret Borough Hall naturalization ceremony. "For them to take that away is unfortunate, and I think it's a disgrace," the mayor said. "They're welcome to go somewhere else."
The mayor further elaborated his opinion on his personal Facebook page, writing that "residents of all ethnicities and beliefs join together routinely at our meetings and events, and either participate in our prayer, have a simple moment of reflection, or quietly abstain, as the case may be. Never has there been contention from anyone of any belief."
"The notion that we disregard our personal convictions to placate some obscure bureaucrats does not seem constitutional to me, and is offensive at best," Reiman continued. "There are those of us who still believe in a Being greater than ourselves, and certainly greater than the administrators at U.S.C.I.S. Carteret is not a godless community. Immigration Services can therefore host its godless ceremony someplace else."
The mayor later thanked those who supported his town in defending their "religious freedom," encouraging local residents to "always stand up for what's right and never let pressure from others cause you to compromise your convictions. Sometimes the smallest voice makes the biggest difference."
Katie Tichacek Kaplan, a spokesperson for the federal immigration agency, said in a statement to the Associated Press that the agency's policy is to hold ceremonies that are "conducted in a meaningful manner which is welcoming and inclusive and excludes political, commercial and religious statements."
Mayor Reiman's decision comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold the practice of prayer at public government meetings in the case Greece vs. Galloway.
