USA's Andy Roddick is introduced during the opening ceremonies.

Ben Johnston, left and Jason Taylor, both from Dallas, cheer during the Mardy Fish-Feliciano Lopez match at the Davis Cup Quarterfinal at the Erwin Center on Friday July 8, 2011.

Players from the Unites States, left, and Spain stand for their national anthems during the opening ceremony at the Davis Cup Quarterfinal at the Erwin Center on Friday July 8, 2011. The team members are, left to right, USA's Jim Courier, Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan, Andy Roddick, and Mardy Fish; and Spain's David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez, Marcel Granollers and Albert Costa.

Draped in an American flag, David Goodrich, of Richardson, cheers during the MardyFish-Feliciano Lopez match at the Davis Cup Quarterfinal at the Erwin Center on Friday July 8, 2011.

The naturalization ceremony can be potently symbolic for new Americans. Alexander Manteaw, originally from Ghana and living in Grand Prairie when he accepted his citizenship, quietly tucked an American flag in the pocket of his jacket after reciting the 140 words in the Oath of Allegiance.

On a Wednesday in March, the M.O. Campbell Educational Center in Houston filled with 1,573 foreign nationals seeking to become Americans. The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half. Those assembled listened to speeches. A U.S. district judge officiated the event. When it was over, some new citizens such as Ariel and Rowena Sarinas of the Phillipines wanted to memorialize the day with a picture. It was the husband and wife’s first portrait as Americans.

Habib Jahan of Pakistan was 85 years old when she sat in the front row April 26 at the naturalization ceremony at the Delco Center in Austin. She listened to Mario Ortiz, the director of the San Antonio District of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, tell a story about his experiences years ago as an American in Singapore. “People told me, ‘You don’t look like an American,’” Ortiz told the 984 petitioners. He scanned the large room where Jahan sat, holding an American flag. “You tell me,” Ortiz implored. “What does an American look like?”

People become Americans at every stage of their lives. Of the 619,913 people naturalized in 2010, most were 30 to 44 years old, a category that included 272,621 new Americans. But nearly 150,000 of them were 50 or older. Older naturalized citizens often become Americans to join their families in the U.S. Many are fulfilling a lifelong dream. In March, Magdaleno Oviedo of El Salvador became one of 1,573 new citizens sworn in by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore at the M.O. Campbell Education Center in Houston. Oviedo now lives in Spring.

Texas typically has ranked fourth in the U.S. among the states of residence of naturalized citizens. California led the nation in 2010 with 129,354 new Americans; New York (67,972) ranked second, and Florida (67,484) ranked third. The number of people living and naturalized last year in Texas was 49,699). Some of them became Americans at ceremonies in San Antonio, where Boris Constans of France posed for a picture with his 4-year-old daughter Chloe after his naturalization ceremony in March at the UT Institute for Texan Cultures.

Emmanuel Lamptey of Ghana took special care to look good for a March 23 naturalization ceremony at the M.O. Campbell Educational Center in Houston. He selected a tie, knotted snugly, with a matching handkerchief folded in the pocket of his suit jacket. He wore cufflinks. The number of Ghanaians naturalized has grown from 1,828 in 2001 to more than 4,000 each year since 2008.

On a sunny and warm Saturday in April, Sokchetra Chum, Francisco Saenz, Jeanette Ponce, Julia Ashton, Alex Mascorro and 26 other service women and men gathered in their military uniforms at Camp Mabry to take the naturalization oath.

Faton Canolli, right, originally from Kosovo and now living in Webster, rejoices with his Certificate of Naturalization after taking the oath at a naturalization ceremony in Houston. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore swore in 1,573 new U.S. citizens from 110 countries at the ceremony.

Many new Americans linger after the ceremony for their first pictures and videos as citizens of the United States. In March, Daniel Aguilar Torres, originally from Mexico, posed with his citizenship certificate and the U.S. flag in front of a replica of the Statue of Liberty at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Irving.

New Americans react in a variety of ways to the conclusion of their citizenship ceremonies. Some depart with no visible emotion. Others feel the need to celebrate. After a ceremony in April at the Delco Center in Austin, the Martinez family from Mexico – Brian, Luisa and their 3-year-old son Joaquin – posed in front of the U.S. flag as Luisa held the certificate entitling her to every privilege and right as an American.

From 2001 through 2010, judges naturalized 465,381 foreign nationals in Texas. Many of the ceremonies included a distinct component, but only the 27 members of the U.S. military branches naturalized in April at Camp Mabry could say they became Americans in front of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall. Each new citizen recited the same words their fellow Americans have recited since the Oath of Allegiance became part of the ceremony. U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Diosdado Valera, from the Philippines, embraces his girlfriend An Diep.

Matt Garner waves an American flag as he marches with members of Celebration Church in the Fourth of July Parade in downtown Round Rock on Monday July 4, 2011.

Left to right, Flo Gonzalez, 17, Sarah Lewis, 17, Tyler Soberanes, 15, and Jessica Knowles, 16, of the Georgetown High School ROTC Honor Guard, march down Main Street at the Fourth of July Parade.

John Heil of Floorsville, left, and Morgan LeBaron, 19, of Bastrop, work on LeBaron's NASCAR Pro Truck before the races on Saturday May 7, 2011.

James Huff, 74, of Houston, pauses for the national anthem beside his Monte Carlo before the start of the races at Thunderhill Raceway. Huff has been racing since 1956.

Shawn Paul Lehman loses control during a heat race in the NASCAR A-Line Super Stocks division.

Jake Dallenbach gets congratulatory kisses from Samantha Vasquez, left, and Lauren Holt after a victory the Allison Legacy division.

Hunter Montgomery, 15, of St. Hedwig crashes into a barrier at high-speed during the Thunder Stocks division race. He rounded the first turn with a hung accelerator, locked his brakes and skidded through a patch of grass before slamming into the concrete barrier.

Montgomery is removed from his car after the crash. The boy went to the hospital with a sore neck. He returned before the races ended, to watch.

Megan Barker, 10, Jocelyn Williams, 18, Jessica Hogan 10, Nikki Kruger 15, and Kristen Johannsen, 18, watch the action at Thunderhill Raceway.

Racers in the Allison Legacy division roar past the grandstand.

For five-year-old Tate McBride, the noise is a bit much, but that’s one the the attractions for many - along with the risk.

Christina Nelson, left, 30, of Austin, and Amber Teinert, 26, of Hutto, rejoice at the University of Texas Commencement.

Hamilton White, 22, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, marches in the grand procession.