Southeast Idaho residents become US citizens

It was a memorable day for some people in Southeast Idaho. 19 people became American citizens Wednesday at the Federal Courthouse in Pocatello.

“No matter what country you came from, America now calls you her own,” said Judge David Nye, District Court of Idaho,

Wednesday marked the beginning of 19 peoples lives as American citizens. Applicants from Mexico, East Africa, South Korea, and more were tested and educated on U.S. history, and what it’s like to be an American.

“You go through a lot of interviews with immigration and it’s something to be proud of,” Karla Silva, a new U.S. citizen.

“I am no more a citizen of the United States than you are,” Nye said.

The journey to get here took some time.

“Just waiting for five years, it isn’t easy,” Murbarek Teiab, a new American Citizen. “I know there are people here who have been here longer than five, and they didn’t get it yet.”

All those new citizens have their own reasons for being sworn in.

“You are a citizen you can go where ever you want, and able to go freely,” Teiab said. “You can travel wherever you want to travel.”

“For my family,” said Eba Velazquez, a U.S citizen. “We are together.”

They also had advice to have for other’s hoping to become citizens.

“I say the other people you can do it,” Velazquez said. Try [to] because maybe someday you can do it. Because I did.

Each year around 700,000 to 750,000 become naturalized U.S citizens, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

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