Dozens of people from 25 countries officially became U.S. citizens at Petco Park on Wednesday.
The San Diego Padres, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services hosted a naturalization ceremony in which 49 participants took the Pledge of Allegiance.
“This is very emotional for me,” said Brazilian-born Carlota da Costa Muhlig. “I’ve cried a lot.”
She said she appreciated the security and freedom she had in the United States
“I think Americans don’t really know what they have,” she said. “When we come here, we come with a lot of hope, a lot of expectations, and we find it better than we imagined.”
Safety, especially for women, was also a top priority for Naman Sheel, who moved here with her family from India.
“I can move around freely here,” she said. “I can wear what I want and, you know, be outside as long as I want.”
Sheel has been living in the USA for seven years, four of which she has spent in a long-distance relationship with her husband, who will be joining her in a few weeks.
“I’m really happy for him. It’s his new life too,” she said. “I’m really excited about it.”
Some new citizens said they appreciated the friendliness and openness they found in the United States
Sam Jang said he notices cultural differences at work. He was born in South Korea, studied at UC San Diego and now works at a startup.
“When you’re young, it’s really hard to start discussions or express your thoughts and ideas in meetings,” he said of Korea. “But here I can talk freely with my CEO and CSO and they really respect my ideas.”
Maryam Salehijam was born in Iran and is a Canadian citizen. She has lived here with her husband for several years but wanted to become a citizen so she could vote.
“When I was involved in the last election in the United States, I realized how important every vote is,” she said. “This one is especially important because it’s about women’s rights.”
After the ceremony, those attending the Padres games joined the new citizens and took the oath of allegiance together.
According to officials, this was the second naturalization ceremony held at Petco Park, with the first taking place in 2019.
