Brianna Vazquez wiped away tears as she sat among thousands of newly naturalized citizens Tuesday at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where nearly 5,300 people stood in front of a federal judge and took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States.
Vazquez, who lived in Mexico until she was 7 years old, was one of 150 Ventura County residents who participated in citizenship ceremonies Tuesday in Los Angeles, where 130 countries were represented.
"I will never forget this. I love this country so much," Vazquez said. "I'm really excited to be able to contribute more for this country. I really appreciate everything that it's done for me."
Vazquez, 30, lives in Ventura with her 7-year-old daughter, who sat beside her mother as they wore matching navy and white dresses and held small U.S. flags.
"She's very excited that Mommy will get to vote and become an American like her," said Vazquez, who completed her patriotic ensemble with a red necklace and bright red lipstick.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services holds monthly citizenship ceremonies at district offices throughout the country, but the Los Angeles District Office consistently hosts the largest ceremonies, spokeswoman Claire Nicholson said.
In the past fiscal year, the Los Angeles District office — which oversees Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — processed more than 93,000 lawful permanent residents to become U.S. citizens, Nicholson said.
Before applying for citizenship, applicants must be lawful permanent residents for at least five years, or three years if they are married to a U.S. citizen, Nicholson said. It typically takes the Los Angeles District office four to five months to approve a permanent resident for citizenship, she said.
Judge Christina Snyder, of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, presided over the afternoon ceremony and Oath of Allegiance. A separate ceremony also was held at the convention center Tuesday morning to accommodate the thousands of participants and their families.
Snyder said she urged the group of new citizens to become active community participants and vote in every local, state and national election.
And that's exactly what Vazquez plans to do.
"Not being able to vote — it just didn't feel right," she said. "I did my best — I volunteered, and I've done things, but it just wasn't enough. I wanted to be held accountable to having the leaders that I wanted in office, especially at the local level."
Nearly 25 percent of the new citizens who participated in Tuesday's ceremonies were Mexican nationals — the largest group from one country. About one of every 10 people who took the oath Tuesday originally were from the Philippines.
Pawin Dusdepruttipun, 33, and his wife, Kornsiri Thirawongpaisal, 32, drove from their Camarillo home Tuesday morning to both take the citizenship oath.
The pair grew up less than 15 miles apart in Bangkok, Thailand — the capital city of more than 6 million people — but they did not meet until they were both attending the University of Florida in 2004.
"We are very happy to take this path into becoming U.S. citizens," said Dusdepruttipun, a financial analyst. "We have come a very long way. Ten years ago, who would have imagined we would have had the opportunity to become citizens? We studied, we found jobs and we worked hard, and I think we deserve to be in this position."
Joel Ruiz, a fellow Ventura resident, sat next Vazquez and her daughter as he placed his right hand in the air and recited the oath.
Ruiz, 37, grew up and went to college in Lima, Peru — where his entire family still lives. But when the economy in Peru was suffering, Ruiz said, he decided to move to California in 2005 after only traveling to the East Coast of the United States for a few months at a time during college.
"I kind of liked the way of life here in California," he said.
Ruiz has been working for a cable company in Ventura since 2008 while taking classes at local community colleges.
"It is my home now," he said. "I decided ... I should be a part of the country officially."
Ruiz said he has always wanted to vote and is excited to participate in his civic duty as a new citizen.
"In Peru, it's mandatory to vote, so you do always," he said. "Because I live here now, I feel that I should go participate. That's the way I guess I was raised."
Zvia Aloush, 44, first came to the United States in her early 20s. She had just finished her military service in Israel and said she "wanted to take some time off and travel a little bit."
"I told my parents I wouldn't stay longer than three months," she said. "Well, I met a guy and stayed longer."
After four years away from her parents in Israel, Aloush returned home, but her relationship continued. She ended up returning to the United States.