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As July 4 celebrates America, 126 Utah immigrants officially become new Americans

Minutes before she was sworn in as a new U.S citizen on Wednesday, Ana Gomez held a U.S. flag in one hand. With the other, she filled out her first-ever voter registration form — using as a makeshift lap desk a large enveloped stuffed with her citizenship papers.

When asked why she immigrated from her native El Salvador, she said. “It’s very bad there, very dangerous” because of gangs and crime. “The people are poor. Everybody struggles.”

“Here, it is like a paradise.” The Lehi resident says she want to help keep it that way — including using her new right to vote.