http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1802740.html

Sacramento ceremony welcomes more than 850 new citizens

smagagnini@sacbee.com

Published Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2009

More than 850 immigrants from 90 countries took the oath of allegiance Wednesday during a citizenship ceremony at Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento.

They were congratulated by Alexander Gonzalez, the son of Mexican immigrants who grew up to become president of California State University, Sacramento.

"I remember very well the challenges my family had to overcome to build lives as Americans," said Gonzalez, 63.

He said the keys to unlocking his potential - and theirs - are "a strong sense of family, hard work and education."

Gonzalez's parents came to Los Angeles from Aguascalientes, a small town in central Mexico. Young Gonzalez remembers having to translate for his mother, who spoke no English. His father, who could read and write English, worked as an apprentice baker to try to feed his family of nine.

"We straddled two cultures and two languages, yet we were true to both," he told the 855 newest Americans, who came from five continents. They included 169 from Mexico, 112 from the Philippines, 90 from India and 48 from Vietnam.

There also were 39 from Ukraine, 34 from Fiji, 26 from China, 22 from Iran, 19 from Cambodia (one of them calls it Kampuchea - Cambodia's name under Khmer Rouge rule from 1975 to 1979) and 18 from Russia. Afghanistan provided 11 new citizens.

Gonzales was the first in his family to go to college, like many of the 29,000 students he oversees at CSUS.

Gonzalez told the newcomers: "As you pursue your dreams I urge you - and I really do mean this - to keep learning about the world.

"Continue to make education a part of the culture in your family and discover the opportunities that await in our great nation."

New citizens are created once a month in Sacramento.

Since 1999, 70,154 new citizens in the greater Sacramento area - including Woodland and Roseville - have taken the oath of naturalization in Sacramento.

RENÉE C. BYER/rbyer@sacbee.com

Jordanian-born Jamal Saries smiles at his family after becoming one of 855 new citizens during Wednesday's swearing-in ceremony at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. From Mexico to the Phillippines, the new Americans hail from 90 countries and five continents.