even though they were not yet citizens, when they joined our military, these men and women signed up to serve. we did one event at the white house, and a young man named granger michael from papua, new guinea, a marine who had been deployed to iraq three times was there, and you know what he said about becoming an american citizen? he said, i might as well, because i love this country already. that is all he said. marines aren t big on speeches. another was a woman named pearla ramos who was born and raised in mexico and came to the united states shortly after 9/11 and joined the navy. she said, i take pride in our flag and the history we write day by day. that s the promise of this country. that anyone can write the next chapter in our story. it doesn t matter where you come
signed up to serve. we did one event at the white house, and a young man named granger michael from papua new guinea, a marine who had been deployed to iraq three times was there, and you know what he said about becoming an american citizen? he said, i might as well i love this country already. that s all he said. marines aren t big on speeches. another was a woman named pearla ramos who was born and raised in mexico and came to the united states shortly after 9/11 and joined the navy and she said i take pride in our flag and the history we write day by day. that s the promise of this country, that anyone can write the next chapter in our story. it doesn t matter where you come from doesn t matter
who came to this country, became a citizen and opened up a successful technology services company. when she started she had just one employee. today she employs more than a hundred people. this past april we held a natural liization ceremony at the white house for members of our armed forces. even though they were not yet citizens they had enlisted. one of them was a woman named pearla ramos, born and raised in mexico. came to the united states shortly after 9/11. and she joined the navy. and she said i take pride in our flag and the history that forged this great nation and the history we write day-by-day. these women and men and women across this country like them remind us that immigrants have always helped to build and