Countywide : Pair Sworn In at Special Ceremony

Trying not to squint from the cameras flashing in their faces, two Ventura County residents were sworn in Tuesday as United States citizens in a special ceremony at Ventura’s Hall of Justice.

Half a dozen reporters and photographers recorded the event, which was specially arranged by Immigration and Naturalization Service officials in Los Angeles. The swearing-in ceremony is usually conducted in Los Angeles, but officials agreed to hold the event in Ventura County to make it easier for the new citizens to attend.

Veena Gurudatt Borkar, 35, and Moon Hwan Oh, 23, both Moorpark residents, took the oath of citizenship in Courtroom 22. Family members and attorneys were on hand to witness the event.

Missing were three others scheduled to be sworn in. Two Oxnard residents and a Simi Valley man were expected, but did not arrive. It was the second time that they missed the ceremony and they will have to reapply, said Miriam Cohen, an immigration examiner with the INS office in Los Angeles.

Borkar, who said she missed the 1991 ceremony because she was out of state, said she was delighted with her status as a naturalized citizen. A native of India, she moved to the United States in 1982. Her husband is a naturalized citizen, and she has given birth to two children in this country, so it was time for her to join them as legal citizens, she said.

Oh, a native of Korea, said he has lived in the county since he was a little boy, adding that he is grateful that he could take part in the ceremony in Ventura County. INS officials told him that 6,000 people will be sworn in at the Convention Center in Los Angeles today.

“Can you imagine doing this with 6,000 other people? This is much more intimate. This is where I live and it is very special to me.�