Hundreds of people from 63 countries packed into a Riverside theater last week to take the oath of citizenship. American flags lined the stage as messages conveying the immigrants' new power played on a large screen:
“Today, I am an American. Today, I am a citizen of the country I serve. Today, I can register to vote.”
The 775 people who participated in the naturalization ceremony Sept. 19 are part of a wave of new U.S. citizens being sworn in across the country, as immigration authorities approve citizenship applications at the fastest speed in a decade.
The Biden administration says the uptick in new citizens is due to efforts to reduce a backlog of applications that began during the Trump administration and exploded amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Immigration officials said the timing is not driven by the election or any political agenda.
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