31 new citizens naturalized at the North Carolina State Capitol on July 4

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — It’s an Independence Day 31 new American citizens won’t forget as each took their oaths of naturalization in front of the North Carolina State Capitol Friday afternoon.

Marilyn Swartz, who immigrated from France, said, “Just a fantastic way to celebrate July 4. I’ve been here for a while, 23 years. it took me that long to decide. Now that I’ve done it, I think it’s fantastic.”

Friday’s ceremony is the culmination of years of work towards citizenship, a process that can have its fair share of challenges.

According to Maria Echavarria Waugh, her process took four to five years to get to this moment.

“It has been long, but it’s been a learning process,” she said. “It feels to get an achievement, like made a goal [that] says I can. We came to this country with a dream. It’s like such an honor to get that dream.”

While each of the 31 new citizens have their own unique story and come from 19 different countries from across the world, they can now all be proud to call themselves American citizens.

“Like everywhere else, there are downsides, but you get to love it and you get to enjoy it,” Garbiela Ingram said. “I’m embracing it. I feel like it’s a great day.”