SAN ANGELO, TX — Twenty immigrants from eight countries took the Oath of Allegiance and became naturalized U.S. citizens Wednesday morning during a ceremony at the O.C. Fisher Federal Building.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray Jr. presided over the event in the San Angelo Division of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The new citizens represented Belarus, Honduras, Vietnam, the Netherlands, Peru, the Philippines, Taiwan and Mexico, according to a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services nationality report for the April 22 ceremony.
San Angelo Naturalization Ceremony
Hilda Hidalgo, an immigration services officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, presented the petitions and confirmed that each applicant had met all legal requirements for citizenship. Ray then administered the Oath of Allegiance.
Ray welcomed the applicants, their families and friends, calling the naturalization ceremony one of the federal courts’ most important functions.
San Angelo Naturalization Ceremony
“You are not a hyphenated American,” Ray told the new citizens. “By that, I mean you are not a Mexican American, a Peruvian American, a Taiwanese American, a Belarusian American. You are an American.”
He urged them to register to vote, serve on juries and speak up when they hear misconceptions about the Constitution or Declaration of Independence.
San Angelo Naturalization Ceremony
“Please never forget the sense of pride and accomplishment that you feel right now,” Ray said.
The new citizens recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Certificates of citizenship were distributed at the conclusion of the ceremony, and families were invited to take photographs in the courtroom. A photo gallery is available on our Facebook page.
San Angelo Naturalization Ceremony
San Angelo Naturalization Ceremony
San Angelo Naturalization Ceremony
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