Four-month-old Gia Ornelas waved a tiny American flag after watching her daddy be sworn in as an American citizen.

Edgar Ornelas of Mexico was one of 40 new Americans who took the oath on Sept. 21 in U.S. District Court in Roanoke after hearing members of the Salem Choral Society sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The 30 members of the choral society also performed “Let Freedom Ring” later in the ceremony, under the direction of S. Reed Carter. New Americans from 27 countries posed for pictures with Chief Justice Michael F. Urbanski after Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott called each of their names to go forward to receive congratulations along with naturalization certificates, voting information and miniature flags presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Urbanski invited the new citizens and their families, if they wished, to make short remarks. “I cannot wait to vote,” said one woman. Another young woman said after the ceremony, “I should have done this (become a citizen) years ago. I am so happy. Everyone who is here should go through the process and become a legal citizen.”

The new citizens came from almost all points in the world, from Hong Kong to Jamaica, The Republic of Chad in Africa, Iran, Iraq, India, Chile, Colombia, the Philippines, Thailand, Bhutan, Armenia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Canada, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Judge Urbanski told his own story, of how his grandfather and the grandfather of his wife came to Ellis Island on separate ships and settled in the coal mining area of Pennsylvania. “The stories of your children…is my story,” he said. “Today you join a new family.” Mott, who is leaving shortly to become an advisor in Afghanistan, echoed the judge’s words when he noted “We are a nation of immigrants.” He thanked the new citizens for coming to the United States and for their hard work to become naturalized. “No one has the monopoly on good ideas. We are a better nation for it,” he said, referring to the mixture of peoples, cultures and ideas that make up the United States.