Oakland extends warm welcome to youngsters becoming citizens

Each received a certificate to prove his or her citizenship during a ceremony that at several points became a rebuke of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose criticism of Gold Star parents of a Muslim soldier caused a national outcry over the weekend.

“We know that in the city of Oakland, what makes America great, what makes America proud, is our diversity,” said Mayor Libby Schaaf, contorting Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan to promote what she says are her city’s core values: openness and inclusivity.

Schaaf delivered remarks in English and Spanish to welcome the children, ages 3 through 10, who all became U.S. citizens when their parents were naturalized and who on Monday received certificates to prove their citizenship.

Comedian and inspirational speaker Michael Pritchard, who hosted the ceremony for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, was exuberant.

Held in Aesop’s Playhouse — a children’s theater with animal sculptures arrayed under a large canopy —the ceremony opened with a medley of American folk songs by Tosca, a vocal group from the Golden Gate Symphony Orchestra & Chorus.

Robin Barrett, San Francisco field office director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, administered the oath and handed out the certificates, alongside Schaaf and Pritchard.

Many of the attendees were reluctant to talk politics, and some said they have not paid much attention to the sparring between Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.