Ninety-eight people from 31 countries became United States citizens Friday at a naturalization ceremony at John A Logan College.
US District Judge Reona Daly presided over the events. She administered the oath of citizenship.
Pearl Fichtel is one of the newly sworn-in citizens. She came to the United States from Ghana in 2018 to study climate change. She met her husband and wants to make America her home.
Fichtel says her citizenship will open doors of opportunity for her, "I like the opportunities in America. There are so many opportunities in America. Yeah, you just have to know what you want and how to go about things."
Jason Doherty left Scotland in 2019 to finish academic work in the US. He began the citizenship process after meeting his wife in 2020, "After starting a family here, it just became home. I started seeing my future being here, building a life here, and taking advantage of all the opportunities that are offered here."
Fichtel and Doherty say now that they're citizens, they're both looking forward to voting in upcoming elections.
