For years, 30 people patiently waiting in Middletown's City Hall have been hoping to become American citizens, waiting while their children grow, waiting for this afternoon.
PFC Wilder Diaz, of the U.S. Army, is one of them.
"It's definitely pressure to become a citizen, plus I'm in the military and I'm serving this country. Just one of my dreams come true, pretty much," he said.
"Makes me proud, double because he's from the Army. He's fighting for freedom, so it made me really proud," his wife, Grecher Pacheco, who's already a citizen, said.
Hanna Lobodzinska of Southington said with a laugh, "Very good, very nice, very happy! American people, not Polish!"
She registered to vote before the ceremony and so did NBC Connecticut’s Kerri-Lee Mayland, who is also one of the new citizens. All of them had to pass naturalization interviews and a test on American law and government.
"I was asked who is our Vice President now," Agnes Martin said. "It is Joe Biden."
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Biden wasn't there, but a couple of congressmen were, as a federal magistrate presided, directing the candidates to stand, raise their right hands, renounce their past countries and pledge their allegiance to their new one, the United States of America.
