David Ortiz Now A U.S. Citizen
Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, from the Dominican Republic, and 220 other immigrants became U.S. citizens at a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston yesterday.
Ortiz joined 226 immigrants from 57 countries as they raised their right hands and took the Oath of Citizenship at the John F. Kennedy Library in Dorchester.
“My whole family, kids, and everyone have been born here,” Ortiz, who was born in 1975 in Santo Domingo, told reporters afterward. “It’s a great country - proud to be here, now proud to be a part of it.”
Ortiz’s wife, American-born Tiffany, added: “It’s a big deal for him. It’s really important, and I’m really proud of him.”
When pressed by reporters, Ortiz did not endorse a presidential candidate.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation held a private lunch before the ceremony in honor of Ortiz, said Brent Carney, spokesman for the library. On the other side of the building, the crowd of would-be citizens and their guests gathered without any indication that the Red Sox icon would soon fill the vacant, black chair marked “reserved’ in the center of the front row.
“Everyone was wondering who the seat was for,” said Chanthy Chea, 36 , of Lowell, who emigrated from Cambodia and became a US citizen yesterday. “And then I saw David Ortiz. I was like, ‘Oh jeez, it’s Big Papi.’ ”
Ortiz, 32, walked in the room to cheers and applause and sat with his wife and two of his children, Alexandra, 7, and D’Angelo, 3. His father, Americo Enrique Ortiz, and Larry Lucchino, Red Sox president, also attended.
“David Ortiz has been the heart and soul of Red Sox Nation for many years,” Lucchino said in a statement released by the team yesterday. “Today, we are also proud that he has become an official citizen of the American nation.”
Congrats, Big Papi.
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