One of those brand new citizens was Barata Hilla. Originally from Ghana, she was naturalized in a ceremony Sunday at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia estate. In an interview before the ceremony, she said she couldn’t wait for the “all-important occasion.” “In a nutshell, I am happy,” said Hilla, who moved to the U.S. in 2014 and works as a certified nursing assistant at the University of Virginia hospital. “I don’t have to be worried anymore about checking my green card, and that alone is a relief.”