Immigrants sworn in as U.S. Citizens
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) welcomed 420 immigrants, including nine military members, from 31 countries as they are sworn in as new U.S. citizens Friday morning at the Abraham Chavez Theatre.
U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, presided over the ceremony, with assistance by USCIS. Special remarks were provided Nick Gonzalez, FSC, President of Cathedral High School.
The immigrants who will be naturalized originally came from these 31 countries: Burma, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kosovo, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is conferred upon foreign citizens or nationals after fulfilling the requirements established by Congress. After naturalization, foreign-born citizens enjoy nearly all the same benefits, rights and responsibilities that the Constitution gives to native-born U.S. citizens, including the right to vote. During fiscal year 2014, approximately 777,000 immigrants were naturalized nationwide.
