'A matter of commitment and conscience': 42 people become American citizens at Urbandale ceremony

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.

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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 History Farms in Urbandale late Friday morning.

Under string lights laced around wooden beams in a barn built in 1871, new American citizens from around 25 different countries, including Brazil, China, El Salvador, India, Iran, Liberia, Mexico, Taiwan, Ukraine and Venezuela, gathered with their families and waved mini American flags.

“You being here today celebrates the uniquely American idea that citizenship in this country is a matter of commitment and conscience,” Southern District of Iowa U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Jackson, Jr. said. “This ceremony is important not only to recognize and induct you as citizens, but because it reminds all the rest of us that we are a country that is bound together, not simply by ethnicity or bloodlines, but rather by fidelity to a set of ideas.”

Attendees were also congratulated by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who and said they are a reminder to Iowans not to take their “citizenship for granted.”

“Becoming a citizen is not easy. It requires courage, sacrifice and determination. You embrace the ideals of freedom, opportunity and responsibility that define this nation, and in doing so, you will strengthen the very fabric of our democracy,” Reynolds said. “Iowa has always been enriched by the hopes and hard work of immigrants, people who come here seeking a better life, who bring diverse experiences and deep appreciation for the promise of freedom.”

The ceremony on Friday comes at a time when immigration policy is hotly debated across both the country and in Iowa following the recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest of former Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts on Sept. 26 for overstaying a deportation order.

On Wednesday, Reynolds signed an executive order requiring all state departments to use federal verification systems E-Verify and SAVE, to confirm both the employment eligibility of state workers and the immigration status or U.S. citizenship of individuals before they receive state-issued professional licenses.

And Iowa lawmakers, including Reynolds, have backed the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. In August, Reynolds announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in which the Iowa National Guard will provide ICE officials in Iowa with administrative and logistical support. The agreement started in September and is set to end in November.

Immigration to Iowa

Jackson said he had reflected on Iowa’s history of welcoming immigrants ahead of the ceremony, especially with the governor present. He highlighted former Republican Gov. Robert Ray’s efforts to welcome thousands of immigrants from Southeast Asia, including Tai Dam people from Vietnam.

“Former Governor Robert Ray was instrumental in Iowa really being a unique and first welcoming place for many refugees and immigrants,” Jackson said. “I hope you find that here in Iowa, that we are a welcoming place.”

According to 2023 data from the American Immigration Council, 5.8% of Iowa’s population is foreign-born, making up 7.4% of the state’s workforce.

Marco Driest was another new U.S. citizen who took the oath during the naturalization ceremony. Driest is from the Netherlands and attended undergrad at the University of Massachusetts in 1988. He and his wife, who is from the United Kingdom, came back to the U.S. in 2016, along with their two children.

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Now, Driest works at John Deere in Ames and said becoming a citizen will help them feel fully integrated into the community after building relationships and paying taxes in Iowa for years.

“This sort of just completes the picture,” Driest said. “It makes it whole.”