After passing the U.S. citizenship test and clearing the interview process, Red Sandstone Elementary School custodian Maria Del Socorro Soto was excited to attend her naturalization ceremony in Denver on Thursday, Oct. 23.
She took the day off work and drove down to Denver, but when she got there, Soto learned that the ceremony had been canceled due to the ongoing government shutdown.
“She was very bummed out,” said Jenny Tomas, a Health Assistant at Red Sandstone Elementary School. “She showed up with her family, dressed and ready to go, and they told her that the ceremony was cancelled.”
Difficult journey
The situation in Denver was one more setback in what has been a rough couple of years for Soto…