Every year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducts special naturalization ceremonies to commemorate America’s Independence Day. This year, the agency is celebrating the nation’s birthday by welcoming 9,000 new U.S. citizens during more than 100 special naturalization ceremonies across the U.S. USCIS Acting Director Lori Scialabba stated that the USCIS is honored to celebrate this great day by welcoming new citizens.
Special naturalization ceremonies will take place in public libraries and at sites integral to America’s history that includes Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia; George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Mount Vernon, Virginia; Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; South Dakota; California; the Battleship New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey; Saratoga National Historical Park in Stillwater, New York and the USS Midway in San Diego.
President Obama will host a special ceremony at the White House for immigrant service members on July 4th. He stated that these service members are ready to die for the country to which they do not belong and that is why the White House has decided to honor them by naturalizing them at the White House.
Yuba City High School Principal Martin Ramirez was a speaker at swearing-in ceremonies at Veterans Memorial Hall that welcomed 54 new citizens. A Mexican, he first entered into the U.S. illegally. He was also deported from the country once. However, he finally became a U.S. citizen along with his family members. He congratulated the new citizens for their proud accomplishment. He stated that the naturalization oath comes with several rights and liberties like freedom of speech and religion.
Celia Avila of Yuba City was excited and happy that she was able to become a citizen of the U.S. She said that she wants to encourage other people to become citizens of this great nation. 67-year-old Teresa Diaz, who immigrated from Mexico two decades ago, took her Oath of Allegiance at the New York Public Library. She said that her dream has come true. She is excited since she can vote now. There are thousand others like her who were very excited to take the Oath of Allegiance and become proud citizens of the country.
After having spent a lot of time and putting in a lot of effort into learning about America’s history, many are excited to finally take the Oath of Allegiance. They believe that America is a land of opportunity and they also love the country.