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100-Year-Old Fremont Woman Becomes U.S. Citizen

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— One of the newest U.S citizens sworn in during a ceremony in San Francisco Tuesday is also one of the oldest.

Suke Haan Yu Cheng came to the United States in 2004 after living in Hong Kong and Canada. Tuesday, the 100-year-old Fremont woman became a U.S. citizen during a swearing-in at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Building in San Francisco.

"She's just happy about it. I think it will give her a better sense of belonging in the states," said Cheng's daughter Wendy Tan.

Tan lives with her mother in Fremont, where Cheng celebrated becoming a centenarian on October 5th. Tan said her mother has wanted to be a citizen for some time now.

100-Year-Old Fremont Woman Becomes U.S. Citizen

"She wanted to be a citizen when she was 90-something after staying in the states for more than five years, but she wasn't able to because she doesn't know English," Tan said.

Tan said Cheng hadn't been in the country long enough to take the citizenship test in Chinese, but she got a disability waiver from the English test since she has early signs of Alzheimer's disease.

Cheng left China in 1934 when she was 21 years old.

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