On July 4, 1776, the United States adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring our country’s freedom from the rule of Great Britain. Americans now celebrate this historic event — Independence Day — each year on the Fourth of July with a barrage of fireworks, parades, cookouts, carnivals and everything in between. This year, USCIS will be celebrating Independence Day by inducting more than 9,000 new U.S. citizens.
USCIS will be holding more than 100 naturalization ceremonies between June 30 and July 4 to commemorate Independence Day. Some of the ceremonies will take place in very historic locations such as Mount Rushmore, the Liberty Bell Center, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and the National World War II Museum.
One such ceremony occurred right here in Buffalo, New York. On June 26, 51 candidates became U.S. citizens on board the U.S.S. Little Rock at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park. Candidates were from more than 25 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Zambia.
USCIS also encourages new citizens to share their experiences on Facebook and Twitter using the recommended hashtag, #newUScitizen. You can access the USCIS Facebook page at https://Users/davidlewis/Sites/berardi/app/public.facebook.com/uscis and the Twitter page at https://twitter.com/USCIS.
New U.S. citizens, as well as their friends and family, took full advantage of the social media outlets. The pictures and heartfelt messages shared will certainly make you feel proud to be an American. Some of the captions read, “After almost 28 years of living in this country I am finally a U.S. citizen,” “I am now a citizen of the greatest country in the world,” and “I can’t stop waving my little flag I’m so happy!”
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Americanism is a question of principles, of idealism, of character: it is not a matter of birthplace or creed or line of descent.” USCIS is certainly exemplifying this statement as we welcome these new citizens to join us in celebrating our country’s freedom.
If you would like more information on obtaining U.S. citizenship, please schedule a consultation with one of our attorney’s today! Happy Independence Day!