Lincoln welcomes 30 new U.S. citizens in naturalization ceremony

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Lincoln’s last naturalization ceremony of the year took place today at 12:30 pm, falling on International Human Rights Day.  30 new citizens were naturalized today in the short ceremony at the Robert V. Denney Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse.

U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard presided over the ceremony.

The ceremony was made extra special with four sisters and a father with two sons naturalizing together, something that rarely happens.

Sho Say Gay, the second oldest sister of the group, explained the importance of naturalizing on a day like today especially when coming from a place where they didn’t have the simple freedom to leave their refuge.

According to the group of sisters, their citizenship which was only supposed to take three to four months was elongated from stressors of the pandemic ultimately taking over a year to complete.   Their parents are still going through the process and expect to naturalize in the near future with the help of the girls.