BUFFALO, N.Y. — What do Rashida Jones from Barbados, Colette Whyte from Ireland and Bimala Acharia have in common?

They're all new U.S. citizens.

 "We are celebrating immigrants here today,” said Eva Hassett, executive director of the International Institute of Buffalo. “Buffalo wouldn't be Buffalo without the contributions on immigrants and African American migrants from the south after the slaves were freed in the 1860s." 

A total of 39 candidates from 26 countries were sworn in as U.S. citizens Wednesday.

"It feels great. It feels great to know that you're becoming a part of something that's greater, and raising your hand is basically like showing your respects in a way," said Jones.

"It means that I am giving my loyalty and myself to this country. This is a wonderful country of opportunity," said Whyte.

They took the oath of citizenship at a tumultuous time, as the country is in the middle of a heated debate over who gets an opportunity to become a citizen.

With the crackdown on refugees coming in illegally across the southern border officials with the International Institute say something has to be done to legally allow refugees in.

"What's going on at the border is heartbreaking,” Hassett said. “There is a legal right to seek asylum. Our government is not letting people seek asylum. That is not right. They need to let people go through the asylum process and stop criminalizing parents who are just trying to keep their children alive and stop taking their children away.”