WASHINGTON, July 4 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will host a naturalization ceremony for active duty military personnel Wednesday, the White House said.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas will take part and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will administer the oath of allegiance, the White House said in a statement.
Obama previously hosted naturalization ceremonies at the White House in May 2009 and April 2010.
Other administration officials will take part in naturalization ceremonies elsewhere around the country -- including Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in New York; Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley in Massachusetts; Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz in Virginia; and Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu in Maryland.
The group of active duty service members to be naturalized at the White House includes Marine Lance Cpl. Byron Oswaldo Acevedo, a native of Guatemala; Oluwatosin K Akinduro, a member of the Army National Guard who was born in Lagos, Nigeria; New York Army National Guard member Alla Victorovna Ausheva, born in Russia; Francisco Jose Ballesteros de la Rosa, a Mexican native who joined the Marine Corps in 2009 and has been honored with the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
Others expected to become naturalized citizens Wednesday are natives of Honduras, El Salvador, Guinea, Cameroon, Ukraine, the Philippines, China, Guatemala, Palau, Ecuador, Ghana and Colombia.