Dutchess County Clerk Bradford H. Kendall will host a Naturalization Ceremony and administer the Oath of Allegiance to approximately two hundred attendees. The Honorable Maria G. Rosa, Dutchess County Supreme Court Justice, will preside over the ceremony.
Dafna Mizrahi will deliver the keynote address. Mizrahi has blazed a trail in the Hudson Valley and culinary industry. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico she came to the United States at age 12. Dafna, a naturalized citizen herself, was raised in a Mexican-Jewish family that regarded cooking and hospitality as two important family traditions. She went on to attend the Culinary Institute of America earning scholarships from the James Beard Foundation and Jones Dairy Farm and graduated in 2014 with a degree in Culinary Arts Management. After graduation, she partnered with the Monte family and established a farm to table restaurant, Monte’s Local Kitchen and Tap Room, in Amenia, New York where she serves as Owner and Executive Chef. In 2015, she became champion on the Food Network’s program, “Chopped.”
Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is conferred upon a foreign citizen or national after he or she fulfills the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processes all naturalization applications and provides the clerk’s office with a list of the candidates selected to be naturalized. All petitioners must then participate in a Naturalization Ceremony and swear to the Oath of Allegiance in a formal court proceeding. At that time, they can change their names legally to have their new names appear on the Certificate of Naturalization.
The Dutchess County Clerk’s Office is honored to take part in the final step of the naturalization process. In Dutchess County, naturalization ceremonies are held six times throughout the year to induct new citizens of the United States of America.
The ceremony is open to the public and all are invited to attend.
