AN American man raised in Cornwall has been granted British citizenship following a long running battle.

Donte Ragan, aged 29 from Redruth, was finally granted citizenship at a ceremony in Truro.

He was adopted from St Louis, Missouri, and brought to the UK by his estranged adoptive parents at the age of two. His paperwork was never completed correctly, meaning that when he became an adult, he was not granted British citizenship and was therefore subject to the threat of potential deportation.

He originally applied for British citizenship in October 2024, but his application was denied by the Home Office, which he said had left him in limbo and unable get a job.

Labour MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, Perran Moon, stepped forward to help Donte in his bid to become recognised as a British citizen.

He was keen to help following Donte’s work in the community and as he has an 11-year-month old daughter.

Donte said: “It is like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders, knowing that once I have my British passport I won’t need to go diving in and searching for random bits of paperwork all the time.

“It’s been tough but I’ve finally got to the good part and the positive decision. It means I can get a job now. It just makes life a lot easier.

“I definitely feel like I’ve been accepted. It’s just a shame it couldn’t say I’m of Cornish nationality. But it’s really positive either way – I’m really pleased I can now say I’m officially British.”

“This means that life for my daughter should also be a lot smoother admin-wise.

“Perran helped me quite a bit – all the things that he’s done for me, wow! He was really determined to push for me to get citizenship.”

Mr Moon MP said: “The first objective was to lift the impending deportation, then secure him indefinite leave to remain and finally push for full British citizenship.

“As this was an admin error completely out of Donte’s control when he was a baby, I appealed to the Home Office as an exceptional case. There followed countless emails, letters and meetings with Home Office minister Mike Tapp who was very supportive of Donte’s case.

“I explained that Donte has been a key member of our community for years, helping some of the most vulnerable with kindness and support. I’m very thankful to Donte that he put his faith in my constituency team and am delighted that his struggle is finally over.”