More than 3 dozen sworn in as new American citizens Monday in Columbia

Forty-one people were sworn in Monday in Columbia as new U.S. citizens.

Federal Judge Joe Anderson delivered the naturalization oath to the new Americans during a lunch meeting of the Columbia Rotary Club.

“I’ve been doing this for 31 years, and I get a lump in my throat every single time,” Anderson said, opening the 25-minute ceremony before Rotarians, the soon-to-be citizens and their relatives and volunteers from the League of Women Voters, who attend each ceremony.

The new citizens come from some 20 countries, including Ukraine, Canada, Egypt, Vietnam, Brazil, Taiwan, India, Cambodia, Mexico, Ireland, Pakistan, El Salvador, Bulgaria, Colombia, Belarus, China, the Dominican Republic and Turkey.

To become citizens, they had to pass a test about American history and the Constitution and be able to speak, read and write English. The oath they took requires them to renounce all allegiance to their prior nation and to support and defend the Constitution and to bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law.

Anderson told the new citizens, “With every right there are corresponding duties and responsibilities.”

Also speaking to the new citizens was Rui Cao, a naturalized citizen from China who with his wife, Michelle Wang, runs a chain of restaurants in Columbia.

“The more you give, the more you receive,” Cao told the audience, recounting his journey from China to America and to Columbia.