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Thousands of immigrants become naturalized citizens at LA Convention Center
Juan Davalos, 27 and originally from Ecuador, high fives friends after he was sworn in as a U.S. citizen during a naturalization ceremony at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
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Corey Moore/KPCC
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Just ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, thousands of people have taken an oath at the Los Angeles Convention Center to become new U.S. citizens. After the morning naturalization ceremony, families and friends stood outside West Hall and applauded the bearers of new citizenship certificates.
29 year-old graduate student Danny Martinez cheered on his brother Steven. The native of Chile says the two of them lived in the States for more than a decade before they decided to apply for citizenship.
“So we’ve never felt that pressure of feeling so alienated that we need to acculturate or we need to assimilate very quickly," said Martinez. "We feel like we’ve been able to take our time with that and even now, 16 years later, we’re still trying to figure out what it means to be an American.”
Martinez says he became a naturalized citizen only two months ago. Ceremony officials at the Convention Center say more than 8,000 people will become U.S. citizens today.
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