DEARBORN — About 250 Detroit-area immigrants exchanged their Green Cards for naturalization certificates on Jan. 30 after officially becoming U.S. citizens when they took their oaths at Byblos Banquet Hall in a formal ceremony.

Byblos owner Youssef Bazzi offered up his hall for the fourth time in three years to federal officials for the occasion.

He said seeing the looks on people’s faces after becoming citizens reminds him of when he was naturalized in 1986.

“When they exchange their Green Cards for the American citizenship, it feels as if it’s a higher education diploma,” he said. “I went through what they went through and I felt what they felt. You can see the happiness on their faces. I’m very happy that people become American citizens in our place. It’s a good thing for the city and the community. It’s the least we can do.”

Hana Dib, of Canton, originally from Syria, holds up her right hand and recites the oath of U.S. citizenship among about 250 other Detroit-area immigrants in a naturalization ceremony at Byblos Banquet Hall in Dearborn on Jan. 30. PHOTO: Khalil AlHajal/TAAN

Director of the Detroit district for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Mick Dedvukaj told the crowd before they were sworn-in that he, himself is an immigrant, having come to the U.S. as a child. He said that his own parents, like them, made the decision to become Americans.

“Years from now, you or one of your children maybe addressing a group of new citizens like this as a congressman, a senator, a federal judge. In this country, anything is possible,” Dedvukaj said.

Zuhour Taamneh, of Redford, originally from Jordan, said she’s lived in the U.S. for five years and always wished that she could vote in elections.

“Now I can. I passed the [citizenship] test. Thank God and thank America,” she said in Arabic. “I’m very happy today,” she said in English.

Lamin Touray, of Ferndale, originally from Gambia, was set to leave for the basic training in the U.S. Army four days after becoming a citizen.

“It was a great moment when I raised my right hand… I think one of the best ways to serve a country is to join the military so that you support that country, its constitution and its flag.”

Touray, like several others at the ceremony, said cited Barack Obama’s election as president as a reason to be particularly proud.

“I can look at my kids and tell them ‘you can become whatever you want to become.’ It’s a great moment,” he said.

Hana Dib, of Canton, from Syria, said it’s “an honor to have the right to participate in elections.”

“But I wish I had it before now,” she said. “I could have voted for Obama.”