Two women say they didn’t know their naturalization ceremony would be used at GOP convention

Two women who were featured in a video of a naturalization ceremony shown at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night said they did not know it would be aired at the political event. 

Sudha Narayanan and Neimat Awadelseid told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that they didn’t mind being featured but said they were not aware the video would be aired at the convention. They also told the newspaper they didn’t know until minutes before the ceremony, which was held at the White House, that President Trump would attend. 

Awadelseid, a Sudanese immigrant and substitute teacher, told the Journal she remembers signing a media release form but does not remember being told about the GOP convention. 

She said the ceremony was the culmination of many years of hard work and achieving her dream of sending her children to American universities. She told the newspaper that was her focus and said she is “not a political person.” 

“I’m excited to have rights as every citizen in the United States,” she said. 

She also told the newspaper that she plans to vote in November but is unsure of which candidate she will support for president. 

Video of Trump presiding over the naturalization ceremony aired on the second night of the convention. It was unusual and the second time during Tuesday night’s convention programming that Trump was featured in his official capacity as president, following an earlier clip of Trump’s pardon of a convicted bank robber who now runs a nonprofit for prisoners. 

The clip also showed acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf reading the naturalization oath to the new citizens before Trump took the lectern to congratulate the five individuals.