SEATTLE — When Marha Babatid learned she would become an American citizen on July Fourth, she got excited.
“Oh my, that’s a big day,” the 36-year-old Filipina immigrant thought — a day that seemed to promise an especially big welcome to America.
That was exactly the point at the annual swearing-in ceremony on Independence Day at Seattle Center, one of many taking place across the country. A bevy of performers and prominent speakers marked the celebration of 501 new citizens from 80 countries, all of them sitting outside beneath the sunshine, surrounded by American flags and red, white and blue balloons.
“I want to thank you for choosing Washington state,” Gov. Jay Inslee told them. The state’s “secret of success,” he said, is people who have arrived here from around the world, helping to build companies like Microsoft, Boeing and Amazon.
The love was mutual. Some of the region’s newest citizens said they came here because of the opportunities to develop their talent.
Sakaraia Waimila, 30, said he planned on pursuing his dream to become a pilot, something he said would have been impossible in his homeland of Fiji. As part of a family that maintained a small farm, he had far too little money to enroll in flight school.
Here, he works in construction and said he will be able to afford the necessary training.
Becoming a part of America made him emotional, Waimila said, and he dressed up for the occasion in a crisp white shirt, navy slacks and a brightly colored, flowered tie.
Lien Nguyen, 29, got a college degree in business in Vietnam and worked for a time in sales. Like so many, she is remaking herself in the U.S. Beginning this fall, she will attend the University of Washington to study engineering.
Several speakers presented themselves as proof of what is possible in the U.S.
Chief Judge David Estudillo of the U.S. District Court of Western Washington said his parents came from Mexico. “We are here and we are not leaving,” he said his parents used to say.
“I am a product of my parents’ sacrifices,” Estudillo continued. “And I’m also confirmation of their beliefs in the validity of the promises of the United States.”
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, noted she came to the U.S. at 16 and attended her own swearing-in ceremony 23 years ago. “I stand before you as the first and only South Asian American woman elected to Congress,” she said, adding she was also one of only 20 naturalized citizens who are congressional members.
Some also alluded to darker themes, reminding the hundreds assembled that they were joining a country that is not perfect.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said appreciating their new country doesn’t mean they shouldn’t criticize it.
“You will experience bigotry,” Harrell said. “You will experience hate. Perhaps you speak with an accent: You will experience prejudice. But you hold on by hope.”
Hope certainly seemed abundant Tuesday.
“When they say there’s opportunity here, they’re not lying,” said Chenita Smith, a 30-year-old from South Africa. She first came to the U.S. in 2016 as a caregiver for two children and lived with their family on Mercer Island. While here, she met the man who became her husband.
Building a life here, she found a job as a substitute teacher in Kitsap County and remained close to the Mercer Island family, who was in the Seattle Center audience Tuesday cheering her on.
Sinem Gulbay, becoming a citizen with her husband, Onur, both from Turkey, said the future seemed bright.
“This is our home now,” the 35-year-old Amazon product manager added. “Our kid is born here.”
Onur Gulbay even started a pop-up food business embracing a staple of American cuisine: Texas-style barbecue. While living in Austin and working in tech, he practiced his technique as a hobby, then started Outsider BBQ in Seattle. After the citizenship ceremony, he was set to take his pop-up to Fremont Brewing for the afternoon.
Emphasizing the diversity of the crowd, Leanne Leigh, acting Northwest director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, read all 80 home countries of those about to become citizens, and said how many came from each as they stood up.
India, the Philippines, China, Canada and Mexico had some of the largest contingents, with 51, 44, 39, 37 and 34 people, respectively. Norway, once a prodigious source of immigrants to Seattle, was the home country of just one.
All jointly swore to renounce foreign allegiances and defend the country against all enemies.
“From this moment on,” Estudillo declared, “you are American citizens.”
