DELANO, Calif. (KERO) — 23 young people were presented their Certificate of Citizenship during a naturalization ceremony at the Delano County Library on Thursday, Dec. 16.
Those participating in the ceremony ranged in age from 10 to 18 years old.
"I really feel so proud and I feel so proud of my parents," said Belal Algharasi, one of the teenagers that became a United States citizen during the ceremony. "They had to work so hard to study and get their American citizenship. Also, the country has a lot of things that you can do and the country supports athletes and makes you professional and that makes me so excited because I want to be an athlete."
Thursday's citizenship candidates come from nine nations: Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Yemen.
