Federal judge to new U.S. citizens: Like Trump or leave country

SAN ANTONIO -- A federal judge in San Antonio finds himself at the center of an uproar after telling newly sworn U.S. citizens that Donald Trump is “your president, and if you don’t like that, you need to go to another country.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primomo’s comments were reported by CBS San Antonio affiliate KENS-TV, which covered the naturalization ceremony at which 500 immigrants took the oath of U.S. citizenship at the Institutes of Texan Cultures on Thursday.

“I can assure you that whether you voted for him or you did not vote for him,” the station quoted him as saying of the president-elect, “if you are a citizen of the United States, he is your president. He will be your president, and if you do not like that, you need to go to another country.”

He later told the station and the San Antonio Express-News he meant his words to be unifying and respectful of the president’s office, not political, and added that he did not vote for Trump for president.

“I wasn’t trying to say anything for or against Donald Trump. I was just trying to say something hopeful and unifying, and unfortunately it was taken out of context,” he told the Express-News.

KENS also reported that Primomo was critical at the ceremony of protesters who carried placards saying, “He’s not my president,” and said he detested the actions of pro athletes who kneel during the playing of the national anthem.

“I detest that, because you can protest things that happen in this country; you have every right to,” Primomo said, according to KENS. “You don’t do that by offending national symbols like the national anthem and the flag of the United States.”

The station says the room at the Institute of Texan Cultures was a melting pot, a collection of hopeful faces bound together under their new flag.

The most hopeful words came from brand new Americans, KENS added.

“The essence of Americans is that you have the right to vote and choose [who] to represent you,” said Rafael Guerra, a new American born in Mexico.

In an election where women played such a pivotal role, Indian immigrant and new American Vharati Dharwadkar said women have it better in the U.S. than in her native India.

“The freedom and the importance that ladies get in this country is independence,” Dharwadkar said. “She can freely say whatever she has to say. I feel free in this country compared to my country.”

Iraqi native Mohammed Al Farradh said that America is still is a beacon of hope for many.

“It is exciting to be an American. I believe that America is bigger than whoever is in office,” Farradh said.

Primomo, the son of German and Italian immigrants, has been a magistrate judge since 1988.