For Cuban immigrant Norberto Ricardo and 249 other immigrants, Saturday was a day they will never forget.
And it is that at halftime of a Las Vegas Lights football game last weekend, those 250 people went to Cashman Field, where on Saturday they saw their dreams of becoming United States citizens come true.
“I came to the United States in search of freedom for my family because, as you know, in Cuba we have a dictatorship,” Ricardo said in Spanish. “I always wanted to become a citizen (of the United States); It was a pending dream that I have now fulfilled”.
Cashman Field employees removed the barriers at the east end of the football field to allow lines of new citizens to traverse the field. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon swore in the new citizens, and United States Senator Catherine Cortez Masto greeted each one.
This was the second ceremony at a Las Vegas Lights game, said Katherine Tichacek, public affairs officer for US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The new citizens of Saturday come from very diverse groups. Among them were 48 Filipinos, 42 Mexicans, 17 Cubans, and many more from 50 other countries.
land of opportunity
“In Cuba, dreams are broken,” said Ricardo, who has three boys and a girl. “Young people don’t have opportunities to grow up and finish their dreams. It’s as if they had no rights there.”
Looking at the new citizens, Cortez Masto said he sees the excitement on their faces and the work they have done to earn citizenship.
He said it’s about coming to the United States to pursue the American dream of being successful and giving your children every opportunity to succeed.
These opportunities, Cortez Masto said, are the reason his grandfather and great-grandfather immigrated to the United States. But the senator pointed out that coming here does not mean that new citizens leave their culture and languages behind.
‘One more dream’
Ricardo pointed out that he has not finished building his future.
“I have one more dream to fulfill,” he said. “And it is to become financially free.” Since he moved to Las Vegas, Ricardo has found work in a casino to help build wealth for his family.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalized fewer than a million new citizens nationwide last year, according to the Homeland Security website. More than 7,000 of those new citizens were in Las Vegas.
The path to citizenship takes at least five years to complete for citizenship card holders to be eligible. The spouse of a United States citizen only needs to spend three years as a permanent resident. Most naturalizations in Las Vegas are processed within nine months of filing the application, according to Tichacek.
He also praised citizen naturalization ceremonies at sports venues like the one at the Lights football game on Saturday.
“Welcoming new citizens at large sports venues also allows thousands of people to witness a naturalization ceremony, better understand United States citizenship, and welcome their new neighbors,” Tichacek said in an email.
