A New Beginning

For a large amount of immigrants that come into the United States a goal that he or she hopes to achieve is to become a citizen of this country.
People from over 50 countries worldwide filled the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on Sept. 17, 2008 some waiting to get sworn in as citizens and others serving as their audience.
The process of gaining citizenship can range from an easy journey to a terrible expedition, but for the more than 1,000 men and women who lined the auditorium floor the journey was coming to an end.
Fitted with flags from the United States and from their various native countries people sat in anticipation as patriotic music rang through the auditorium’s speakers.
On the outside a different story was playing out, lines of people stretched onto J street waiting to be let in to the already full auditorium.
Not only were potential citizens lining up in front of the newly renovated building, but so were protesters, political party representatives and street vendors.
There are numerous advantages to gaining citizenship, but on that day the importance of voting became evident for the large group of potential new voters.
Both Republican and Democrats had tables with information pamphlets and voter registration cards set up awaiting the large group of untapped voting prospects.
While some gain their citizenship to vote and lay claim to their portion of our nation’s democracy, others do it for another reason.
For those who have family members in other countries who wish to come to the United States, with the aid of a relative who has his or her citizenship the process of becoming a permanent resident is easier and can go by smoothly.
A silence came upon the crowd as the host announced that the newly sworn in citizens would swear their allegiance to a new country, for some this would be a new experience.
The pledge of allegiance could be heard from the outside as the new citizens proudly displayed their love for their new country.
As people began to file out of the auditorium, tears began to rain across the faces of some, knowing that the long trip toward citizenship was over.
On a day where citizenship was celebrated all over the United States, Sacramento put forth its share of new citizens.