Dozens of immigrants receive U.S. citizenship during ceremony in Riverview
RIVERVIEW, Fla. - Dozens of women took the U.S. citizenship oath Friday during a naturalization ceremony in Riverview.
During the event, which coincided with the start of National Women's History Month, formally approved the citizenship of 54 women.
"Today is a very emotional day for me. I am very excited. I feel so proud," said Paula Cespedes, who immigrated from the Dominican Republic. "It was very important for me because my mom made many sacrifices for our family and to finally be able to say that I'm a U.S. citizen means the world because that's one of the biggest goals that we had."
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the citizenship candidates had to be green card holders and current lawful permanent U.S. residents, while also meeting all the requirements to naturalize, including passing a civics exam.
The naturalization ceremony comes at a time when immigration remains a heated debate in the U.S. Many of the people participating in the event didn't come to the U.S. at the southern border, but they're still keeping a close eye on the response from federal lawmakers.
"Immigrants bring a lot to the table when it comes to forming a part of the United States and contributing to society and community here," Cespedes said.
"The amount of people that want to come in no matter what and, like I say, [they're] good and bad people, right? I always think if you can do these things the right way, that is the best way," said Andrea Ratio, who immigrated from Colombia and said she's excited to celebrate core American ideals. "The liberty, the freedom, the protection; you don't get the same in my country."
This group of new U.S. citizens originated from 30 countries: Albania, Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Jamaica, Kosovo, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Vietnam.
SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter