Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, honored 102 new United States citizens on the Central Coast Saturday morning during the fourth annual Citizenship Recognition Ceremony. The ceremony was held via Zoom.
In the fourth annual Citizenship Recognition Ceremony, Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, honored 102 new United States citizens on the Central Coast.
The ceremony, held via Zoom on Saturday morning, began with a recording of the National Anthem sung by Milanea Espinoza, a Santa Maria resident.
Then, Rep. Carbajal congratulated everyone on achieving their U.S. Citizenship, sharing the importance of freedom and equality values, as well as the diversity and culture they bring to the nation.
In addition, he shared his own story of becoming a U.S. Citizen.
He recognized each new citizen with a Certificate from the United States Congress in honor of their citizenship.
The following Central Coast residents received certificates: Maria Rojas Contreras, Bertha Villaseñor Arias, María Irene Medina De Pérez, Berenice Aguilera, Josefina Vázquez, Lizbeth Franco Guzmán, Francisca Salazar, Evelia Jiménez, Alfredo Vázquez Sánchez, María Teresa Díaz Grimaldo, Cristina Luna Ríos, María Anita Rogel De Martínez, Belen Ramírez Garduno, Soledad Fonseca De Soto, Miguel Díaz Arredondo, Antonio Martínez Ortiz, Jose Federico Vázquez Ramírez, Alvaro Enrique Alvarado Ramos, Cecilia Miranda Rodríguez, Lourdes Alcantar, Nancy Basulto, María Pérez Luevanos, J. Carmen Luevanos Ybarra, Josefina Gutierrez Gaona, Pablo Valencia Ayala, Ismael Chavez García, Carlos Salinas, Marina Ines Guerrero Estrada, Jose Manuel Pérez Cortéz, Verónica Medina, Rosa Isela Aguirre De Montes, Luz Del Carmen Sotomayor Díaz, María C. Villalobos Navarro, Anai González Villagomez, Eva Alvarado Santacruz, Jose Antonio Vázquez Castañeda, Celia Silva Barajas, Dennex Torres Lazaro, Edith Georgina Lagunas Gancedo, Javier Zepeda Zepeda, Gerardo Cadena Facio, Santiago Guerrero Lozano, Juan Eduardo Vázquez Vázquez, María Yvette Arias-Vázquez, Ramón Jiménez Rosales, María Eva Hilario, Eusebio Delgado Soto, María Irene Medina de Pérez, Daniel Díaz Calderon, Noel Morales, Candelaria García, Albertina Cardona, José Carlos Cardona Monroy, Yessenia Ramírez Aparicio, José Manual Montes Zepeda, María Anita Romero, Gokhan Filiz, Adalisia López De Alvarado, Jennifer Ramírez Aparicio, Armando García Jiménez, Alejandro Rodríguez Espinoza, José Alfredo Benitez Saavedra, Lourdes López García, Ana Isabel Loyola Muriel, Jorge Flores Ortega, Matias Peña García, Carolina Cárdenas de Pérez, Domitila Manzo Muratalla, Abraham Rodríguez Vázquez, Pedro Alberto Guerra Ruíz, Carlos Alberto León, Gustavo Muratalla, Luis Fernando Martínez Sardeneta, Flor Gantes, Concepción Horton, José Luis Castro Franco, Angel Torres Reyes, María Christina Solorio Flores, Mirna Seijas, Rosa Otilia De la Cruz Martinez, Maria J Barboza Ramirez, Filemón Becerra Alonso, Emy Rosales Linares, Guadalupe Zenaido Cortéz Jiménez, Azusena Zarate, Virginia Rubalcava Blanco, Heriberto Rubalcava García, Mónica Alvarado Navarrete, Angelina Galvez Ceja, Guadalupe Galvez, José Galvez Villa, Elsa Gloria López Cerrano, Paula Alonso, Marisol García Garibai, Maria Cruz Díaz, Maria Elena Ibarra, Andrea Gamiz, José Luis Rea Rosas, Ana Rosa Meza Villegas and Felicitas Aguilar de Torres.
Rep. Carbajal said he understands what the immigraiton process feels like and what people must go through in order to achieve citizenship, such as studying for the civics exam, learning English and more.
Finally, he highlighted one of his staff members, Rita Casaverde, who became a citizen last year and is now working on immigration casework among other issue areas in his office.
Approximately 10,000 new people from 64 different countries became U.S. Citizens once a month in the Los Angeles region, from San Luis Obispo County to San Diego County.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
