GATLINBURG — Great Smoky Mountains National Park hosted a naturalization ceremony in partnership with the United States District Court of Eastern Tennessee and the Nashville Field Office of the Department of Homeland Security.
“As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary, it was an honor to welcome America’s newest citizens here in Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” said Superintendent Charles Sellars at the July 1 ceremony. “We are grateful to have played a small role in their path to citizenship.”
A naturalization ceremony is the final step to becoming a citizen of the United States. The park invited guests of the new citizens to watch at Elkmont Campground as these individuals took their Oaths of Allegiance and received their Certificates of Naturalization. Thirty individuals became citizens of the United States through the ceremony.
The new citizens represented 17 countries, including Russia, the Dominican Republic, Brazil and many more.