A hundred new U.S. citizens from 48 countries had their citizenship cemented during Wednesday's naturalization ceremony at the Utah Capitol. The event kickstarted World Refugee Week.
SALT LAKE CITY — A hundred new U.S. citizens waved small American flags, grinning broadly and cheering after they repeated the oath of allegiance — their naturalization into the land of the free complete.
"I feel very happy about it. It's been a long journey," said Moroniah Olea, an immigrant from Mexico. Olea had attended school in the U.S. after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — living in the U.S. for over seven years before becoming a citizen. "There's a lot to learn; there's all these things, and so they're preparing for a long time. And finally, once you get to this, it's sort of like a — just like a graduation," Kljajo said. "You finally get this opportunity to become a United States citizen, which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
Kljajo also noted that Utah itself is welcoming to the refugee community. In fact, in this next year, Utah expects to resettle 1,200 refugees in its communities, according to a Utah Department of Workforce Services press release. Desange Kuenihira, a refugee from Congo and naturalized citizen herself, added that while the immigrants renounced allegiance to their former countries, they should still celebrate their cultural heritage and use it to enrich the American experience.
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