Anyele Arias had been waiting for this day for a long time.<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old Reading resident, who came to the United States from the Dominican Republic nearly 15 years ago, joined 29 other immigrants Wednesday inside a crowded courtroom at the Berks County Courthouse. Together they pledged their allegiance to America and became the country\u2019s newest citizens.<\/p>\n
It was a moment that elicited excitement and pride for those who completed the long and arduous naturalization process as well as for their family members \u2014 many of whom were standing close by ready to capture the moment with their cellphone.<\/p>\n
The day was a momentous celebration for Arias. She explained that in addition to navigating her way through the naturalization process, she has been trying to provide for her four children while battling cancer for the past three years.<\/p>\n
But, she said, there is no other country she would rather call home.<\/p>\n
![\"Reading](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/REG-L-NaturalizationCeremony3.jpg\")
Reading resident Anyele Arias, far right, receives her official citizenship documents from U.S. Immigration Services Officer Gillian Kosinski and a congratulatory handshake from Berks County Judge Justin Boder, who presided over a naturalization ceremony at Berks County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon. (KAREN SHUEY – READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
\u201cI came here to work and provide for my family so that we could have a better future,\u201d she said. \u201cI had family members who had already made the move and thought that it would be the best place to raise my children \u2014 to give them more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arias said she is looking forward to the benefits that citizenship provides like legal protections, voting rights, travel advantages, family sponsorship opportunities and access to federal benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so happy today,\u201d she said while posing with her children in the courtroom as she waved a small American flag.<\/p>\n
During the naturalization ceremony, the Berks County Bar Association invited a number of special guests to speak about the important role people like Arias have played in making America a beacon of hope to so many who long for freedom and liberty.<\/p>\n
![\"Thirty](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/REG-L-NaturalizationCeremony2.jpg\")
Thirty immigrants pledged their allegiance to America during a naturalization ceremony at the Berks County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon. (KAREN SHUEY – READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
The keynote speaker, Ommannan Gonzalez, shared his own story about how he became a citizen and the impact it has had on his life.<\/p>\n
The retired sergeant first class, who serves as an instructor for the Wilson High School Army JROTC program, was among the 125,000 Cubans who immigrated to the U.S. in 1980 as part of an operation known as the Mariel Boatlift.<\/p>\n
The Mariel Boatlift was triggered by a combination of economic downturns in Cuba and political unrest. The migration operation was organized by Cuban Americans who hired boats to transport the refugees to U.S. shores.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez said he arrived with his family on one of those boats as a young boy, choosing to leave behind all that was familiar to them so they could be free from government oppression, political suppression and religious persecution.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family was faced with a choice \u2014 stay in Cuba and accept government corruption or leave and fight for a future somewhere else,\u201d he said. \u201cThey decided to leave everything behind, but we had each other and were no longer trapped in fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonzalez said life was not easy in America at first.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were extremely poor, we did not speak English, we struggled for many years, my parents worked long hours, we lived in miserable conditions and at times it felt like the American Dream was very far away,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, even through those hard years, we had something we never truly had in Cuba \u2014 hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Retired](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/REG-L-NaturalizationCeremony4.jpg\")
Retired Sgt. 1st Class Ommannan Gonzalez was the keynote speaker at a naturalization ceremony held Wednesday at the Berks County Courthouse. Gonzalez shared his immigration story with 30 people who celebrated their new citizenship status. (KAREN SHUEY – READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
He said they believed success was possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believed through persistence and sacrifice we could build a better life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez said that after graduating high school he proudly became a citizen and enlisted in the Army so he could help protect the country that gave his family a second chance.<\/p>\n
In the Army, he worked as a telecommunication specialist and volunteered as an airborne paratrooper. His experience includes working with radio telecommunications, satellite communications and spectrum engineering.<\/p>\n
His first combat deployment was to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division where he worked as a retransmission specialist. He was awarded his Combat Action Badge with 29 confirmed missions.\u00a0 He would go on to serve in South America, Afghanistan and South Korea where he supported operations using his expertise.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez said serving his country has been an honor and privilege.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica truly offers what so many people around the world are searching for: hope, opportunity and prosperity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anyele Arias had been waiting for this day for a long time. The 43-year-old Reading resident, who came…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-180160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}