LAPLACE — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ New Orleans Field Office Director Stanley Crockett will administer the Oath of Allegiance to 153 candidates who will become America’s newest citizens during a special naturalization ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the St. John the Baptist Community Center.

This is the first time USCIS’ New Orleans District has held a ceremony in conjunction with the American Legion.

Citizenship candidates originate from 42 countries: Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Congo-Kinshasa, Croatia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.

The American Legion’s National Commander Michael Helm will address the new citizens, and the American Legion’s LaPlace Post Commander David Gatt will give welcoming remarks.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection Honor Guard will post the colors. In Fiscal Year 2014, USCIS naturalized more than 654,000 people.