In U.S. District Court in Chattanooga this week, 102 people from 35 foreign countries were welcomed into citizenship in the United States of America.
They came from all around the world: Bolivia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Somalia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
That’s quite a number of people from many varied regions.
All of them came in accordance with our laws, joining the rest of us who became citizens by naturalization or who were fortunate enough to have been born here.
We trust that the newcomers and the rest of us will treasure our citizenship in the United States, and will embrace it and contribute to its best qualities – as well as enjoy its benefits.