WICHITA -- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) welcomed 153 new United States citizens during a naturalization ceremony Friday.
The ceremony was held at Wichita State’s Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex. U.S. District Court Judge J. Thomas Marten presided.
The citizenship candidates originated from 36 countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Congo (Kinshasa, Cuba, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
The new U.S. citizens live in Andover, Augusta, Bel Aire, Coffeyville, Colby, Derby, Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays, Hesston, Hugoton, Independence, Kinsley, Liberal, Macksville, Newton, Plains, Quinter, Salina, Satanta, Syracuse, Ulysses, and Wichita.
During fiscal year 2019, 834,000 people were naturalized at ceremonies throughout the country and around the world, an 11-year high.