Standing before a crowd of over 2,000, the 10 newly naturalized citizens pledged to “renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity” to the countries they immigrated from, and promised to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic” as well as, “bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law,” before being given their naturalization certificates and a U.S. flag Sunday morning.
Acting Field Office Director for the Pittsburgh office of the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Service, Michael Horvath administered the oath.
As a result of becoming naturalized citizens, each of the 10 can now run for any elected office they choose, except for president and vice president of the United States, which require candidates to be native-born citizens; obtain a job in the federal government; vote and serve on juries and enjoy many other rights restricted to U.S. citizens.
The 10 new citizens came from Argentina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, France, Kosovo, Slovenia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Yemen.
All, according to U.S. immigration law, were required to have been a lawful permanent resident for five years, have lived physically in the U.S. for the past 30 months, be able to write, speak and read English, have good moral character, and take the Oath of Allegiance.
Applicants for citizenship no longer are required to take a written test on U.S. history or government, but must correctly answer six of the 10 questions posed to them on U.S. civics during their citizenship interview, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.
“One thing is I now have the right to vote and I will finally be able to find a job with the federal government; citizenship will give me that opportunity and I’m planning on spending my life here,” said Mirela Popova, 25 from Bulgaria who is currently a state employee. “I’m very, very excited to finally be a U.S. citizen.”
Ermira Murtezi, 28, from Kosovo who emigrated to the U.S. with her husband said, “I’m very happy today. Today is a beautiful day in my life and I am happy to be a U.S. citizen.” Murtezi’s father, along with her son and daughter were on hand to witness her become a U.S. citizen.
“The USA is the first place for freedom in the world,” Mutezi added.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Service, 654,949 immigrants became naturalized citizens in 2014. The top countries of origin for naturalization are Mexico, India, the Philippines, Dominican Republic and China.
