Twenty people from 10 different countries became U.S. citizens Thursday morning during a naturalization ceremony at Tulsa City Hall.
“This is the best day of the month,” said Heather Wells, a field officer with the U.S Customs and Immigration Services. “I have always noticed that people who seem to earn their citizenship value it more than people that are born with it.”
About 1,600 people have received their citizenship in Tulsa since the city began hosting naturalization ceremonies in 2019. The 20 immigrants naturalized Thursday include folks from Argentina, Canada, Germany, Hungary, India, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Here are some of their stories.
Faith Young arrived nine years ago from the Philippines. She was excited to finally receive her citizenship and be able to visit her home country — a place she hasn’t been since she left.
“It’s finally done,” Young said. “I’ve got it already, and we can get a passport.”
Rohan Manekar arrived from Nagpur, India in 2018, and began the citizenship process in 2020.
Initially, Manekar said he came to the U.S. to pursue a career in tech. Citizenship was not always the goal.
“I come from the tech world… If you want to learn to do great things in the tech world, America is the place to be,” he said. “How do I get there and be part of the biggest technology market and innovation hub? It took me somewhere, and then citizenship came into the path.”
Now living in Oologah with his wife and two kids, he said his family lives an “Oklahoma lifestyle.”
“I live in a small town on 10 acres. We raise animals,” Manekar said. “We live the country life.”
Virginia Goni, a mechanical engineer from Argentina, first came to the U.S. in 2008 after receiving a scholarship from Trine University in Indiana.
“The moment I was granted a scholarship, I knew I was going to pursue my chance to stay,” Goni said. “I didn’t know at the time citizenship, but to stay, because I have been before for work, and I just absolutely loved it.”
She said she is excited, but relieved the process is over.
“I’m excited, I’m relieved also. I’ve been very emotional. It’s been like 15 years for me… it’s a long process doing all the steps that you need to do,” she said. “It is very emotional to think about the times that you came and spent Christmas alone.”
Abel Guimmarra, her husband who is also from Argentina, said he followed Goni to Tulsa in 2013 after receiving a scholarship from The University of Tulsa.
“She came in 2011, so I came following her, and I don’t regret any single moment,” Guimmarra said.
While Goni knew from the beginning that she wanted to become a citizen, Guimmarra said he began pursuing citizenship after he learned the U.S. was right for him.
“When we made it here, it was a really big change of life,” he said. “Completely different way of seeing the approach of life, and a little bit more in line with what we value and what we wanted to do with our lives. So, the country really ticked all the boxes for us.”
Like Goni, Guimmarra said he is excited but also relieved that he finally received his citizenship.
“It feels like we graduated again. It’s that kind of relief,” he said. “It’s a big accomplishment, and you’re finally done and ready to move with the next step.”
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