Nineteen people from 16 countries and 17 Connecticut towns were sworn in as American citizens alongside the Nautilus Submarine at Navy Base New London Friday morning.
Many of them had ties to the military. Aivi Randes, who was born in Estonia, has a husband in the U.S. Coast Guard. The couple live in Glastonbury with their daughter.
"I think for us it means – my husband is a U.S. citizen, my daughter is a U.S. citizen – we are all almost under the same umbrella," Randes said.
The new citizens took an oath and received official paperwork recognizing them as naturalized American citizens during Friday's ceremony, which took place along the Thames River.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 654,949 people were naturalized last year and 777,416 the year before.
Congressman Joe Courtney, whose district includes eastern Connecticut, said it means a lot to be able to honor those in the military and their families with citizenship.
"To see them double down on that with them becoming full citizens, you know, again, it’s just a great reminder of what a special country we have," Courtney said.
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Marine Aizar Bula was born in Panama and raised in Miami, Florida. After he graduated from high school, he immediately entered the Marine Corp. Bula said he only started the citizenship process several months ago.
Having served a tour of duty in Afghanistan, Bula didn't realize how special the day he gained citizenship would be for him.
"Pretty big." Bula said, "It didn’t feel like it as the day was approaching, but today makes a difference. It’s definitely an accomplishment and I feel like for everybody else who became a citizen here today, it’s the same kinds of feelings.”
