Efren Rodriguez was grinning from ear to ear.
Nearby, Fenglin Lai, 67, who had come from the People’s Republic of China to watch, stood on a hillside surrounded by the mountain pines, wearing a broad smile.
Rodriguez and Lai had something in common.
Lai’s daughter-in-law, Leslie Xu, was taking the oath to become a U.S. citizen.
Rodriguez’s wife, Azanet, was also becoming a citizen.
Rodriguez, public-works director for Platteville, said citizenship is a tremendous opportunity.
“You have all the possibilities to live out your dreams without fear,” said Rodriguez, who is already a citizen.
“It is a blessing. It is a honor,” said Azanet, a certified nurse’s assistant. The couple came to Colorado from Mexico and have two children.
“Being a citizen means a lot of things,” said Brian Wang, Xu’s husband. “We can vote and participate in politics.”
Wang and Xu, who came to the United States 13 years ago from China, have already contributed a lot. Wang, a naturalized citizen, is a software engineer, and his wife is an accountant.
They live in Longmont and have two sons, Leilei, 14, and Kevin, 8.
“We are happy to be in the United States,” Wang said. “People are nice here. The politics are much better, much freer.”
Attending the ceremony were 48 new citizens representing 17 countries, including Canada, Ethiopia, Ireland, Israel, Peru, Romania, England, Ukraine and Nigeria.
The proceedings were held in the Moraine Park Amphitheatre in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Rockies towered over the group, and a hundred yards away, a number of elk grazed on thick grass.
Robert Mather, district director of the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, told the group that many of their individual stories were inspiring.
“What you have gone through is incredible,” Mather said. “This is your day. Enjoy yourself.”
It wasn’t the only ceremony Tuesday: 21 people participated in a naturalization ceremony in Lakewood. They came from Mexico, Afghanistan, Morocco and El Salvador.
Among others gaining citizenship in Rocky Mountain National Park were Jana Wynter, formerly of Brighton, England, who remodels houses in Boulder and sells them; Anca Marilena Niculae from Romania, who is a mental-health therapist in Fort Collins; and Taiwo Idowu, 25, from Nigeria, an economics graduate from the University of Colorado.
“It opens doors for me,” Idowu said. “I’m looking forward to applying for job with the federal government.”
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
