SALT LAKE CITY — (KUTV) – Ten children in Utah, who come from all over the world, have entered 2018 as new citizens of the United States.

They took the Oath of Allegiance and were sworn in last week at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Salt Lake City, in a ceremony that was at times high energy, at times solemn.

“How about another round of applause?” said a man from Samoa who greeted the kids and their families. “Who’s from Ethiopia?”

A girl stood as the audience clapped, followed by other children who hail from Mexico, Taiwan, China, Peru and other countries.

“It feels pretty cool and amazing that now I’m an American citizen,” said 10-year-old Haitham Layth Mohammed Ali, whose family left Iraq when he was two.

A relative of his family said Haitham’s father serves in the U.S. Army.

The oath the kids recited had some words not often used on the playground. Part of it read, ‘I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen…’

Haitham said he did not know “all” the words.

“There were a lot of big words there,” 2News noted.

“Tough for a fifth grader,” he replied with a smile.

Some of the kids’ parents recently became citizens themselves.

Now, as one of the youngest and newest Americans, Haitham has an American dream.

A fan of Steph Curry and LeBron James, he said, “My dream is to succeed in my dream as a basketball player.”

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