Fourth Of July Celebrated With An Oath Of Allegiance For New Citizens

LOWELL (CBS) -- "This is the most important day of my life," said Carolina Alcamtara as she stood in the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on Tuesday.

Originally from Brazil, Alcamtara has been in the United States for ten years.

"I am so proud to become an American citizen right on the Fourth of July," she said.

Alcamtara was joined by 502 people in Lowell, and 15,000 people across the nation, to become U.S. citizens on Independence Day.

92 countries were represented in Lowell as they take the Oath of Allegiance.

"It means a lot because I wanted to be a citizen even as a grew up in Nepal, I wanted to come here. So it feels really good," said Saurav Paudal.

Federal Magistrate Robert Collings administered the oath.

"Immigrants are our future," he said. "New citizens like yourselves are our future."

Fenghua Wu summed it up, "I like everything. I like the weather, air, food, education, and freedom."

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mike Macklin reports

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• Lowell