URBANDALE -- On Friday, Mason Eugene Ebwin Taryee was full of relief and ready to celebrate. After roughly two decades of processing and paperwork, he officially became a U.S. citizen.

Ebwin Taryee, 40, came to the United States from Liberia roughly 20 years ago to escape civil war in neighboring Ivory Coast in West Africa. He originally settled in Florida but moved to Iowa in 2019, where he now works as a truck driver.

Now that he has U.S. citizenship, Ebwin Taryee said he is looking forward to voting, starting a homebuilding business and traveling back to his home country.

“I’ve got that proverbial monkey off my shoulder,” he said.

Ebwin Taryee was one of 42 people who took the Oath of Allegiance and officially gained their U.S. citizenship at a naturalization ceremony at the Living

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