The occasion should have been marked by the joy of reaching the destination of US citizenship following the long odyssey of immigration.<\/p>\n
Instead, the ceremony at Boston\u2019s Faneuil Hall \u2013 renowned as a \u201ccradle of liberty\u201d for its role as a protest hub in the run-up to the American revolution \u2013 felt like a nightmarish end of the road for some aspirant new Americans who had turned up full of hope.<\/p>\n
Before proceedings at this month\u2019s event got under way, staff from the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) asked arrivals expecting to swear the oath of allegiance that would finally confirm them as citizens to state their country of origin.<\/p>\n
Those from nations included on a travel ban list announced by Donald Trump<\/a> last summer were then excluded from taking part, despite having completed the years-long vetting process.<\/p>\n Among the disappointed was a Haitian nursing assistant in her 50s who had lived in the US for nearly 25 years \u2013 denied what immigration specialists say is her legal right by a sudden policy change introduced by the Trump administration<\/a> on \u201csecurity\u201d grounds.<\/p>\n The woman declined an interview request. But Gail Breslow, executive director of Boston-based Project Citizenship<\/a> \u2013 which had helped guide her citizenship application \u2013 said she was left devastated and distraught.<\/p>\n \u201cOur client hadn\u2019t received USCIS\u2019s written notification on time and turned up expecting to become a citizen,\u201d Breslow said. \u201cShe told us she was not alone in this and the same thing happened to others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe image of officers going down a line and asking people where they were born, and based on the answer that they gave, pulling them out of line and sending them home is gut-wrenching.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had another client there the same day from Honduras who was allowed to take part and sent us pictures of his naturalization. People are holding little flags and it\u2019s a image of pride and joy as people are surrounded by family members \u2013 the contrast between that and people being plucked out of line based on what country they\u2019re from is the most un-American image I can conjure.\u201d<\/p>\n The scene has been replicated in venues elsewhere in response to a USCIS memorandum sent out on 5 December instructing that immigration proceedings be paused for the nationals of 19 countries on Trump\u2019s ban list.<\/p>\n The memo followed the shooting<\/a> on 26 November of two national guard troops in Washington DC, allegedly by an Afghan national, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who had been granted asylum earlier this year by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of identified concerns and the threat to the American people, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 is necessary,\u201d read the memo, which cites the shooting of the national guards as a justification for the review.<\/p>\n The memo prompted a flood of emails to applicants awaiting naturalization informing them that the ceremonies had been canceled.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is to advise you that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to cancel the previously scheduled Oath Ceremony on Wednesday, December 03,2025 at 12:30PM for the above applicant,\u201d one typical email seen by the Guardian read. \u201cWe regret any inconvenience this may cause.\u201d<\/p>\n Advocacy groups report oath ceremonies being called off in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Houston, St Louis, Omaha and elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have seen these cases now in over 16 cities, affecting nationalities that include Iranians, Haitian, Sudanese, Yemen, Venezuelan, Afghan, Sierra Leonean, Guinean, Libyan, just to name quickly some of the countries [proscribed],\u201d said Greg Chen<\/a>, senior director for government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.<\/p>\n Prohibitions also apply to green-card applicants and those applying for naturalization but who have not yet reached the stage of taking the oath of allegiance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking about [the cancellation of] three types of things \u2013 green-card interviews, naturalization interviews and then \u2026 an oath ceremony where it\u2019s kind of finalized,\u201d said Chen.<\/p>\n Most of those affected refuse to speak to the media, fearing that publicity could make them targets for reprisals or raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents enforcing Trump\u2019s immigration agenda, which has been marked by mass deportations of undocumented people.<\/p>\n However, a Libyan doctor \u2013 emailing the Guardian anonymously at the request of his lawyer \u2013 said his green-card application had been halted despite having worked in the US for 10 years after entering on an O-1\/EB-1 (extraordinary ability) visa.<\/p>\n \u201cI never imagined that in the United States I would be targeted because of my nationality and religious background, particularly by the authorities,\u201d wrote the doctor, whose medical work is focused on developing AI diagnostic and treatment tools for lung cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cI invested years of relentless effort in this journey \u2026 I pursued the American dream in good faith, believing in this country as a land of opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, as I reach the final stages of my permanent residency process, an expensive and lengthy process, my future appears jeopardized solely because of my country of origin. I can\u2019t describe to you the uncertainty, fear, disappointment and confusion I feel right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Such feelings are commonplace among groups suddenly fearing their path to citizenship is shutting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had clients in tears asking us, what did they do wrong,\u201d said Breslow of Project Citizenship, which has seen 21 clients receive oath ceremony cancellations and more than 200 being paused at an earlier stage. \u201cWhat did they do to deserve this? People are very distraught.\u201d<\/p>\n Emotions are running particularly high among Afghans, nearly 200,000 of whom arrived in the US under the Biden administration\u2019s Operation Allies Welcome program that followed the 2021 military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many now feel singled out and betrayed after the national guard shootings, according to advocates.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel guilt and shame that that guy was part of our community,\u201d said Fatima Saidi, director of We Are All America<\/a>, a refugee and immigrants group. \u201cBut he was also a part of American militarism. He joined the US army when he was 15 and was trained.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, Lakanwal was part of an Afghan unit that operated under CIA direction<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also feel guilty for other communities because policies that are targeting Afghans are also affecting them,\u201d she added. \u201cBut the other thing is just hopelessness and disappointment, especially among the Afghans who came here as allies. Most of them feel they have done so much for America, the veterans and the state department.\u201d<\/p>\n