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The United States gained 127 new citizens Wednesday during a naturalization ceremony at the Utah State Capitol.
The people represented 43 countries on six continents.
"We live in a country that is a melting pot," state House Speaker Greg Hughes told them. "We are a nation of immigrants."
Hughes applauded the work the immigrants put into becoming U.S. citizens and spoke of his own ancestors, who came from Ireland in the late 1860s during a famine.
Former state Rep. Sophia DiCaro also spoke of sacrifices her mother made on her journey to citizenship after she came to the U.S. from Japan, but she also touched on new privileges citizens have available to them.
The nation needs new citizens to be "opinion leaders" involved in elections, Hughes said, adding that the continued involvement from new citizens "makes this country greater and greater."
Rafael Bertelli, who became a citizen during the ceremony, addressed the crowd. He initially came to the U.S. as a child from Brazil, he said, and now 20 years later, he is ready to fully participate in the legal system.
He said he looks forward to being politically active and enjoying "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Tenor-baritone Kim Cooney sang "America My Home" as a surprise for his daughter-in-law, who became a citizen during the ceremony, according to a news release from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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