Iraqi man among 45 who take oath as new U.S. citizens in Macon

There were times Mossen Ali wishes he'd never left America.

Ali, who came to the U.S. from Iraq in the middle 1970s to learn aircraft maintenance, returned to his native land in 1977.

"I had this dream to become a citizen when I first came here," he said.

But he had family in Iraq. It was home.

Ali stayed there until 2004, after the U.S. invaded. He fled to Jordan and, in 2010, returned to the U.S. in search of work.

He found it at Middle Georgia Regional Airport in south Bibb County, where he now works as a repair inspector.

Ali, 62, a married father of four, was among 45 new citizens who swore their allegiance to the U.S. Wednesday in a ceremony at the federal courthouse in Macon.

The occasion is one that courthouse employees look forward to. As U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell, who presides over the gathering, likes to say, it is one of the few times everyone leaves the courthouse happy.

In the moments before the ceremony, one of the citizens-to-be was beaming.

Her first name was fitting: America.

America Delgado, from Mexico, said, "Finally America's gonna become an American."

Others were from other lands, including China, South Korea, Nigeria, Vietnam and Moldova.

Ali, who hails from Baghdad, is the third member of his family to be naturalized. His wife became a citizen a few months ago. They live in Warner Robins.

"A nice city," Ali said.

Sometimes people ask him what it was like after the most recent war started in his homeland.

"You are subject to get killed anytime -- even now. ... You don't know when you're gonna lose your life. Either by explosion or by a bullet," Ali said. "Just somebody shooting in the air and you get a bullet in your head. I got friends who died like that."

Ali began seeking citizenship about the time he arrived in America in 2010.

He occasionally encounters locals who, as he put it, "don't accept foreigners."

"Some people," Ali added, "not all of them. Most of them, they are very nice, good people."

At Wednesday's ceremony he was dressed in a slate suit, a white shirt and a purple-striped tie. He said he might take his family to dinner to celebrate.

"I finished my journey," Ali said, "and now I'm getting the citizenship at last."

Contact writer Joe Kovac Jr. at 744-3497 and find him on Twitter@joekovacjr.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Iraqi man among 45 who take oath as new U.S. citizens in Macon ."