U.S. Naturalization Ceremony Honors World Refugee Day

About the Author: Greg Nantz serves in the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

In recognition of World Refugee Day, the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security honored 19 refugees who recently completed the naturalization process. Today, they stood together to make their pledge of allegiance and begin their lives as American citizens. 

Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns spoke at today’s ceremony and described the United States’ legacy of admitting refugees: “Although this is World Refugee Day, it means something special to the American people. Centuries before the world defined what it means to be a refugee, America was already a place of refuge. We welcomed to our shores men, women, and children fleeing hunger, poverty, persecution, and desperation, from the Irish potato famine and the Russian pogroms of the 19th century to conflict and instability in East Africa today. Our culture and our character is defined by their contributions,… more »

(Source: blogs.state.gov)