SAN ANTONIO – Fifty people were sworn in as U.S. citizens on Wednesday for Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
“It was definitely a very arduous journey,” Rabia Waseem, a new U.S. citizen from Pakistan, said.
Waseem was one of the 50 people from 23 different countries who took the oath of citizenship at City Hall.
Waseem told KSAT that it took her several years to obtain citizenship. She said leaving Pakistan was difficult, but she knew that she needed to push through the challenges.
“It is difficult to leave your family behind and start a new chapter in your life, definitely,” Waseem said. “But like I said, the struggle is worth it because we are all building a good life for ourselves.”
Eva Castillo-Lopez was 11 years old when she and her mother took their first bus ride after arriving from Cuba.
Castillo-Lopez, now a nursing student, said that it’s taken 10 years to reach this point.
“I was just a little 11-year-old girl. I just never really thought this day would come,” Castillo-Lopez said. “As a student, life and working can be complicated, so just finding the right time, and I’m glad it finally came.”
Castillo-Lopez said it’s emotional that she can now finally call herself a U.S. citizen.
“What that means for my family going forward, the examples I’m setting for them too and all the things that I have accomplished so far,” Castillo-Lopez said. “So it kind of brought tears to my eyes.”
Not wasting any time, the new citizens were allowed to register to vote before they left City Hall.
Waseem registered to vote right away, eager to be part of the election process.
“I believe that democracy is power and it’s freedom, and this is what being a U.S. citizen is about,” Waseem said.
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