On Monday, 54 people became citizens of the United States of America at a ceremony at the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin presided over the ceremony, and Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper welcomed the new Americans. The ceremony was one of dozens around the country tied to the celebration of Constitution Day, which was Sunday.
The new citizens and their countries of origin are:
Farid Hasan Al Katrib, Syria; Flor Amirataei Rahin, Iran; Yassir Atik, Morocco; Philip Christopher Cobbina, Canada; Kiran Shashi Devaraj, United Kingdom; Roopa Rangapura Devaraj, India; Oronda Lilian Ehule, Nigeria; Maroua El Abdi, Morocco; Nyanlay Fayiah, Liberia; Yamah Fayiah, Liberia; Angel Oswaldo Figueroa, Guatemala; John Charles Francis, United Kingdom; Nattakarn Srimoung Friese, Thailand; Patricia Del Carme Garcia Diaz, Peru; MD Shafiqul Islam Gazi, Bangladesh; Alex Tsedaye Getu, Ethiopia; Emma Michelle Gilham, Fiji; Huyen Thu Hoang, Vietnam; Kailing Jiang, China; Yoshie Sudo Jordan, Japan; Ehteram Kazemi Nafchi, Iran; Arlene Delan Kelley, Philippines; Ghena Kendakji, Syria; Chungla Lama, Nepal; Sai Lian, China; Andrea Guadalupe Lopez, Mexico; Yolita Calzo Mackie, Philippines; Jocelyn Caracol Meador, Philippines; Janine Helen Jacoba Meikle, Canada; Berhan Alemayehu Menebo, Ethiopia; Rana Rachel Moawad, Egypt; Roubir Reda Sobhi Kamel Moawad, Egypt; Verena Mullins, Switzerland; Conrad Idun Dapat Musey, Ghana; Mohammed Amine Oudghiri Otmani, Morocco; Mousumi Mala Pullen, Bangladesh; Lijun Qiu, China; Najmeh Rahmani Shahraki, Iran; Carlos Alberto Ramirez Sime, Peru; Sirisha Pasham Reddy, India; Anand Harshadrai Shah, India; Minty Anand Shah, India; Womba Chiteta Shepherd, Zambia; Kassandra Aracely Soto, Mexico; Veronica St. Clair, Colombia; Bairava Sundaram Kuppuswamy, India; Rama Chelladurai Sundaram, India; Rubina Tabassum, India; Silvia Trivini Bellini, Italy; Barbara Voiers, Germany; Chu Yu Wilson, Taiwan; Fitsum Alemu Wondmeneh, Ethiopia; Tingting Yu, China; and Yang Yang Yu, Canada.