Arizonans become citizens over 4th of July weekend

As our nation celebrates it's 239th birthday, thousands celebrate a huge milestone in their lives as they are sworn in as American citizens.

FOX 10 attended a local ceremony at South Mountain Community College where a few hundred people took the oath of allegiance.

250 people from 57 countries took the oath of allegiance to become American citizens.

"It's given me a lot of opportunity to go to school and get a better job, vote for the next President and have a life," said Jesus Morales.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service celebrated the nation's birthday by welcoming more than 4,000 new citizens at over 50 naturalization ceremonies across the country this week.

"The law has been pretty consistent, we've changed the civics test, and the English test a bit, we got scholars a little bit more involved. The test is fair and accurate, not only does it test their knowledge, but teach them while they're learning," said Al Gallman.

District 25 Director Al Gallman says becoming a citizenship is a five year process, but for some it feels like a lifetime.

This is the 27th year the USCIS has partnered with South Mountain Community College for the ceremony.