Alma Plancich

Helps immigrants swear by this country

Alma Franulovic Plancich, who has organized the Fourth of July swearing-in ceremony for new citizens at the Seattle Center for 21 years, knows the struggles and the triumphs of immigrants to this country. She and her family left Croatia as "displaced" people after World War II. They spent time at a refugee camp and then were turned away from Ellis Island because her mother had typhoid fever. The family stayed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic before landing in Venezuela. With the help of her grandmother and U.S. Sen. Henry Jackson, Alma and her family finally made it to Washington six years after leaving their homeland. At 14, she took her oath of citizenship in Skagit County. As leader of the Ethnic Heritage Council, Plancich has been the driving force behind the July ceremony, where more than 500 people take the citizenship oath each year. The flag she holds is the one used every July.

Q: This is obviously a labor of love for you. Why do you do it?

A: People work so hard and risk a great deal to get here. They leave behind their old lives and countries, their friends and families. They suffer misery, economic strife, war, hunger, despair. They get here and they struggle through a mountain of paperwork, which is overwhelming and which has been worse since 9/11, all to come to a new land — which I still believe is a great land of opportunity.

Q: How did you get the idea for the ceremony, and how much work does it take?

A: A former board member of the Ethnic Heritage Council, which is a nonprofit umbrella organization for more than 400 individual cultural groups, suggested it years ago. I organized it for many years, and in 1995, my daughter, Maria Plancich Kesovija, joined me . . . It takes months to put it together.

Q: As a knowledgeable observer, what would you change about the immigration process?

A: I would eliminate some of the differences in classification between "immigrants" and "refugees." As it stands now, immigrants get almost no assistance, while refugees get lots of help. It's not always fair.

Q: What's the most important message you have for new immigrants?

A: Don't lose your culture. I tell them every year. Sing your songs, cook your food, speak your language, dance your dances. You have the freedom to do it here, and you will make this country richer and stronger.

Q: What's the most frustrating task you face each year?

A: Calling the weather! We have to decide by 6 or 6:30 a.m. whether we are going to have it indoors or out, and then we have to live with that decision.

Q: What's the best thing?

A: The looks on people's faces when they are taking their oaths. It inspires me every time and reminds me of the real meaning of the Fourth of July.