Dozens of immigrants in the Quad Cities have become citizens of the U.S, sworn in, in Rock Island today. Their long road to become citizens almost hit a dead end.
Friday, October 18, 2013, was the end of a very long road. 30 people from 16 different countries raised their right hands and took the Oath of Allegiance to become U.S citizens.
"I'm so happy, I can jump now," said new citizen, Emillie Rathbone.
However, days leading up to this point there was a lot of uncertainty thanks to the government shutdown.
"There was a worrying concern and just like calling IRS and finding out their offices are closed and they're not answering their phones, who do you call," said Alexander Gorbach from Russia.
Lucky for them things went as planned.
"I'm glad that everything was resolved successfully and we got to enjoy our day," said Gorbach.
They're becoming American citizens just as the country gets back on track and tries to put the ongoing divisiveness in Washington behind us.
"If we want to avoid calamities we need to work together," said Gorbach.
Now hoping to use their citizenship to help get the U.S back on it's feet and offer a different perspective.
"Find a solution that might not fit everyone's wishes, but will address majority of people's needs," said Gorbach.
According to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration services, 680,000 citizens are naturalized each year.