Martha Aguilera moved from Colombia to the United States in 2015 after being offered an internship at Tallahassee’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
Since then she’s grown her career, gotten married – and as of July 17 finally can call herself an American.
Aguilera was among over 50 people who were made citizens at a naturalization ceremony in Tallahassee’s downtown federal courthouse. The room was a sea of red, white and blue clothing as friends and family scrambled for seats as the room filled up quickly.
During the ceremony, the new Americans introduced themselves one by one, stated their country of origin – China, Morocco, Jordan, Finland, Turkey, Iran, Mexico and more – and shared stories of what the moment meant to them.
Several said they had moved to the states as children or teenagers. Others had been living here for well over 20 years. Many shared stories of the families they had built here.
The feeling in the room was a mix of joy and excitement even as, across the nation, sentiment towards immigrants has grown increasingly hostile. As these newly naturalized citizens were told of how their diversity shapes the nation, many others disagree.
President Donald Trump has made a mass deportation mandate a key platform of his “Making America Great Again” agenda, and Florida’s leaders – touting the state as the toughest on illegal immigration – are in some ways even trying to outdo the president.
Trump himself appeared at the ceremony, in the form of a recorded video, welcoming the group to the national family they joined and the legacy they are now a part of. He called American citizenship “one of the most priceless gifts ever granted by human hands.”
Still, despite a downpour outside, nothing seemed to dampen the spirits of those who rose their hands and took the oath of citizenship given before U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin Fitzpatrick.
A long overdue celebration
Aguilera said when she first arrived in America she applied for a J-1 Visa, which allows people to come to the U.S. temporarily to participate in work- or study-based exchange programs.
As she prepared to head back to Colombia when her internship was done, she was offered a position at the MagLab and some months later she was able to come to the states on a longer-term visa.
“One year after that, I said I definitely want to stay. Why? Because I have opportunities (I didn’t before) and here I feel respected as a woman. I feel really safe,” Aguilera said.
The road to citizenship had its roadblocks; Aguilera said that at the time she was working towards her green card, Florida State University – where the MagLab is based – was not sponsoring foreign-national employees as it does now.
Having a green card, formally known as a Permanent Resident Card, “allows you to live and work permanently in the United States,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It’s considered the first step to citizenship: Generally after five years, cardholders “may be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship through a process called naturalization.”
“I had to apply by myself, so I applied under one category that is called national interest waiver … basically you demonstrate that your work is of national interest for the nation,” she said.
She applied in 2019 and said at the time the application fee was a little over $1,500. But that wasn’t even the most expensive part. She spoke of the near $6,000 she had to put towards attorneys as she sought help in the “really difficult process.”
Finally in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, she received her green card. Since then, it’s been a five-year wait to get the honor of the official title of citizen.
Others the Tallahassee Democrat spoke to said that they were pushed to seek naturalization due to wanting to become part of the biggest country in the world.
At the end of the ceremony, the new Americans recited the Pledge of Allegiance. They stood for the Star Spangled Banner.
And while all who took the oath may have different reasons to become citizens, they shared one feeling:
Gratitude.
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gratitude, hope, and a new home: Dozens sworn in as U.S. citizens in Tallahassee
Reporting by Arianna Otero, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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