Saeed Rezai, 50, said it was "a dream come true" after years of fighting to avoid deportation. "It's an unbelievable feeling that after 22 years I finally get to vote," said Rezai, who is director of campus safety at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, "And the timing couldn't have been better."

The Iranian immigrant came to America along with a group of international students in the late 1980s and ended up studying computer science at Westminster College. As a student, he worked on campus with the campus security and in 1990 earned a degree in computer science. Steve Morgan, Westminster vice president for institutional advancement and alumni relations told the Deseret Morning News "I don't think there is a more loyal and committed employee than Saeed Rezai.” Morgan has supervised and worked with Rezai for two decades and has been a part of the struggle for Rezai to gain citizenship. "I don't think anybody ever expected it to take this long, but he never gave up," Morgan said. "He wanted to be an American."

After living in the country for 22 years and waging several battles to defer deportation, Rezai was able to vote last Tuesday after he was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in July. "The path was a roller-coaster ride, and I never thought it would end," Rezai said. "Several times I wanted to throw in the towel, but the Westminster community has been unbelievable and I'm so grateful I didn't give up."

Morgan told the Deseret Morning News, "When you see somebody who wants to have that right, and goes through what he did to get it, I think you never again take it for granted.”