For the 53 honorees, the wait was finally over.

“Welcome to the family,” federal Magistrate Judge Erin Aslan proclaimed to a sea of smiling faces.

They were now officially citizens of the United States.

In the crowded courtroom in Baltimore on Thursday, their friends and family joined them, clapping joyously and waving miniature American flags.

Just days before, President-elect Donald Trump confirmed on his social media network Truth Social that he’s prepared to declare a national emergency and use the military to complete the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in the nation’s history.

On a day of joy and accomplishment, some were concerned.

Many at the ceremony declined to be interviewed. Several said they had family members who were in various stages of the naturalization process, which can take months — sometimes years — of paperwork, various visas and work permits, and tests.

“It’s just not fair. It’s not acknowledging what immigrants do. America is powered by immigrants,” said Remarie Casiño, a 50-year-old teacher from the Philippines who had worked toward her U.S. citizenship for 13 years.

“How can we like a president if he doesn’t like us?” she said.

Trump’s campaign has promised to “seal the border and stop the migrant invasion,” with plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. After the economy, immigration was the second-most important issue to those who voted for Trump, according to an NBC News exit poll. Fifty-seven percent of voters in a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted in October said they supported deporting immigrants living in the country illegally, including about 30% of Democrats and 58% of independents.

Maryland has largely welcomed its foreign-born residents.

Census Data shows Maryland has gained about 95,000 residents via immigration over the last five years, and an economic report released earlier this year said immigrants made up 16.7% of the population and 21.1% of the labor force in Maryland in 2022.

For the 2024 fiscal year, 2,486 people were naturalized district-wide in Baltimore and Greenbelt, according to the United States District Court in Maryland.

The judge told the newly naturalized citizens that she is a descendant of Polish immigrants, adding that her best friend is an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago.

She encouraged each of them to preserve their culture, language, traditions, food and music.

“Each of you has your own story for what brought you to the country,” Aslan said. “You honor each of us who have the gift of being born a U.S. citizen. You make us better.”

She added that they have the right to choose any political party.

Carmen Javier Castro, a Honduran woman who’s been in the U.S. for 25 years, said she was happy to become a naturalized citizen. The 66-year-old, who lives in Gaithersburg, said she is saddened by the current rhetoric about immigrants.

“People come here for help and work,” said Castro, who came here after her community was hit by Hurricane Mitch. “I lost my home. I lost my job. I lost everything.”

Outside of their ceremony stood Barbara Corbin, a representative with the League of Women Voters of Baltimore City, with a table ready to register new citizens to vote. She said she registers between 25 to 30 people at each ceremony, which she has attended for the past two years.

Lilia Shakelton, 34, said she got her green card five years ago. The Cameroon native said she was most excited to become naturalized so that she could raise future generations of her family in this country.

Draped in a flowing pink and black capped dress, Ester Mangome said she came to the U.S. eight years ago to be with her husband, Henry Mufuh. She was excited to become naturalized so she could vote, adding that she was happy she now had “all the rights.”

Wearing a royal blue robe and matching hat, Mufuh proudly watched Mangome pose for a picture with Aslan in front of the judge’s bench.

“I feel good,” he said from the first row of an audience of several hundred.

Mufuh, who lives in Hagerstown, came to the United States 14 years ago after seeking asylum. The Cameroon native became a citizen four years ago.

Mufuh said he was not worried about the national debate about immigration.

“She’s an American now,” he said of Mangome. “She can vote. She has all the rights of a citizen. I knew she was going to be a citizen. We know we are here legally.”