‘Dreams come true:’ Ceremony in Southport welcomes 55 new US Citizens
SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — From China to Mexico and several places in between, 55 people from different customs and cultures celebrated their completed journeys to US Citizenship on Monday afternoon.
As a part of the North Carolina Fourth of July Festival in Southport, a Naturalization Ceremony was held to officially welcome nearly five dozen people as newly naturalized citizens of the United States.
Two people celebrating their citizenship are Kateryna and Dmytro Solovei. The two come to the US from Ukraine. They first visited the States as exchange students in Texas in 2014.
“When we go back to Ukraine, we were a little bit sad because in Ukraine we don’t have as much opportunities and as much freedom as people have in the United States,” Kateryna said. “Since we were 19 and 20 years old, it has become our dream to become United States citizens and to come back here again. And that’s what we did!”
The couple decided to come to North Carolina after Dmytro was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. It was his dream to live in a place like North Carolina, so Kateryna said they wanted to follow his dreams.
“Dreams come true today because it took a whole lot of work going toward that dream,” Dmytro said. “It was hard sometimes, it was inspiring a lot of times, and it finally happened.”
Dmytro’s cancer is now in remission.
Originally born in Ghana and later moving to Sweden, it was love that made America feel like home for Gwendoline Tetteh.
“I came here originally as a student, but I met my husband and we fell in love,” Tetteh said.
Six years in the making, Tetteh says the process has been worth it.
“It has been a long ride. We started this process around 2017,” Tetteh said. “Yeah, so, I’m very very excited.”
All of the newly naturalized citizens are excited to officially call the United States, and North Carolina, home.
The celebrations will continue in Southport on Tuesday morning at 11 am for the Fourth of July Parade along Moore and Howe Streets.
