USCIS to Celebrate Independence Day by Welcoming 14,000 New Citizens
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WASHINGTON —This year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will celebrate the 242nd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and our nation’s birthday, by welcoming more than 14,000 new citizens in nearly 175 naturalization ceremonies between June 28 and July 10.
The Independence Day activities will kick off with a naturalization ceremony at the Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio, Texas on June 28. During this event, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna will deliver congratulatory remarks to 37 new Americans.
“The naturalization ceremony marks the end of the journey toward citizenship, just as it marks the start of new lives as American citizens,” said Director Cissna. “We are humbled to be able to share in this moment of pride, joy, and personal triumph.”
USCIS is committed to promoting awareness and understanding of citizenship by offering a variety of free citizenship preparation resources for applicants and teachers, including materials like the Establishing Independence (PDF, 2.41 MB) lesson plan in the Citizenship Resource Center. Immigrant-serving organizations can register to receive a free Civics and Citizenship Toolkit to help lawful permanent residents prepare for naturalization.
The importance of the Declaration of Independence and Independence Day in the United States is reflected in several places on the naturalization test. Prospective citizens may see them in six different questions on the civics test, including, “What did the Declaration of Independence do?” and “When do we celebrate Independence Day?”
To help applicants practice for the civics test, download the USCIS mobile app, USCIS: Civics Test Study Tools, which is currently available for download in the Google Play and iTunes stores. In addition to being the only official USCIS Civics Test application, the app keeps old tests for review, has a game to challenge your civics knowledge, and lists all 100 questions and answers that could be asked in the actual civics test.
To view a list of highlighted 2018 Independence Day-themed naturalization ceremonies, please visit uscis.gov/news.
We invite new citizens and their families and friends to share their experiences and photos from the ceremonies on social media using the hashtags #newUScitizen and #4thofJuly.
For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis) and Instagram (@USCIS).