KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — People packed into Knoxville's City-County Building on Wednesday to take the final step towards becoming citizens of the United States.
The city hosted a naturalization ceremony at the City-County Building, and up to 150 people could attend the ceremony. Almost every seat was taken inside the meeting space, where the group took the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance.
Amadou Camara, from The Gambia in West Africa, said he felt thrilled to finally get his U.S. citizenship.
"This is like a dream come true, to get my citizenship," he said. "When I was young in Gambia, I remember it used to be the dream of my people to come to live here because of the dreams and principles this country represented."
Camara said he moved to the U.S. in 2016 when he started the immigration process after getting married. It took him seven years to get his citizenship and he now works as a caregiver.
"I look forward to seeing how I'm going to contribute more to my community and America," he said. "This is something that is tried and tested, it works — principles of liberty, of freedom, of prosperity, of democracy. These are important freedoms that people have to fight for, have to defend, and have to live by."
