Immigrants who have already been thoroughly vetted are being turned away from naturalization ceremonies because of where they were born.
People wave American flags during a ceremony for naturalized citizens in Faneuil Hall. Pat Greenhouse / The Boston Globe, File
The Trump administration is clamping down on pathways to citizenship for people that came to America from “high-risk countries of concern,” and the effects are starting to be felt in Massachusetts.
Last week, some green card holders on the verge of becoming citizens were abruptly told that their naturalization ceremonies were being canceled because of their country of origin.
The policy changes from the federal government were outlined in a memo issued last week. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials were instructed to pause the application process for immigrants from certain countries and to re-review applicants on a case-by-case basis. Officials said this is being done in the interests of national security and public safety, citing the recent shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., by an Afghan national.
Project Citizenship, a Boston-based nonprofit that provides services to immigrants working to become citizens, started receiving notices last week that the naturalization ceremonies of some of their clients were being canceled. Staff members reached out to clients to tell them the news and try to answer any questions.
One client, a Haitian woman in her mid-50s who has been living in America for more than 20 years, described to Project Citizenship staff how she was turned away from her naturalization ceremony last Thursday in Faneuil Hall. Unaware of the cancellation notices, she arrived with the expectation that she would finally become a citizen.
Instead, she found USCIS officials questioning everyone about what country they came from. Depending on their answer, some of the immigrants were asked to step out of line and told that their naturalization ceremonies were being canceled. The Haitian woman was one of the people who received this message, according to Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship.
“She has made her life here. For this to happen to her and to others like her is an act of unspeakable cruelty,” Breslow told Boston.com.
When asked about Project Citizenship’s clients, Breslow described an environment of confusion and anxiety. Clients are trying to find answers about what, if anything, they did wrong. They are being left in the dark about what the new policies mean for their overall naturalization process, worrying that they may have to begin the arduous journey all over again.
The people who are having their naturalization ceremonies canceled are being given notices that contain little information. The notices mention “unforeseen circumstances” and say that applicants will be advised about further actions in a separate notice, according to Breslow.
News of the naturalization ceremony cancellations was first reported by GBH News.
When contacted Monday, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson referred Boston.com to the USCIS memo and insisted that the actions being taken are necessary for national security.
“The Trump Administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best. Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake. The Trump Administration is reviewing all immigration benefits granted by the Biden administration to aliens from Countries of Concern,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
In the memo, USCIS officials acknowledged that the new guidance would disrupt pending applications for citizenship. But this is “necessary and appropriate” when “weighed against the agency’s obligation to protect and preserve national security,” they wrote. USCIS will take action within 90 days of the memo’s issuance to “prioritize” a list of applicants to be reviewed, re-interviewed, or potentially referred to ICE.
Growing outcry
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu called the new USCIS policies “despicable.” The federal administration has the right to make policy decisions like this, she said, but it is doing so in a way that is harmful to people that have worked hard for years to attain citizenship.
“It doesn’t reflect who we are as a country, and it’s horrible for the people who have been trying so desperately to be full community members in this country,” she told reporters recently at an unrelated event.
As a daughter of two immigrants who came to the US and were later naturalized, the issue is personal for her, Wu said. Naturalization ceremonies will continue to be held in Faneuil Hall.
“Faneuil Hall is the cradle of liberty… and it will continue to be the site of very important, very beautiful naturalization ceremonies, but it may be a few years before we can fully live again up to our values as a country,” Wu said.
Lucy Pineda, president of the immigrant services organization Latinos Unidos en Massachusetts, shared Breslow’s observations about the worry overtaking many immigrant communities. She spoke about the lengths people have to go to in order to have a naturalization ceremony scheduled. People on the verge of citizenship have already been vetted in a number of rigorous ways, she said.
“The dream is to become a U.S. citizen,” she said. “They don’t want our Latino community, our migrant community, to become U.S. citizens. And this is not right.”
Breslow also spoke about how immigrants with scheduled naturalization ceremonies have already undergone thorough background checks and more.
“If you’re scheduled for an oath ceremony, you have been approved for citizenship. You have been through so much vetting and background checking and scrutiny,” she said. “To roll this back, to me, is an excuse to discourage people from becoming citizens, to turn people away that are from particular countries, particular ethnic backgrounds. It’s a thinly disguised attempt to transform America into a place that is only for certain kinds of people.”
So far, 24 Project Citizenship clients have been impacted by the new policy changes, Breslow said, but she expects that number to grow. Interviews with USCIS are being canceled, and the naturalization process is being disrupted in a number of other ways. Breslow’s organization is focusing on disseminating information to clients this week and consulting with similar groups across the country to chart a path forward.
More clarity may come from the federal government once a new USCIS vetting center is operational in Atlanta. The agency announced the creation of the center last week, framing it as a rebuke to policies enacted under the Biden administration. The vetting center will “leverage state-of-the-art technologies, including artificial intelligence.”
Once it is open, the center will prioritize applications from immigrants hailing from “presidentially designated countries of concern.” In a June proclamation, President Donald Trump identified a number of countries, including Afghanistan and Haiti, as “Countries of Identified Concern.” USCIS referenced this proclamation in its recent memo.
Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Coalition, joined the chorus of immigrant advocates raising the alarm about the recent actions by USCIS. At least 45 people that MIRA has been supporting have been impacted by the latest changes, Sweet said in a statement Monday. Five of them found out last week that oath ceremonies at Faneuil Hall had been cancelled.
“This decision and the process is as crass as it is cruel and arbitrary. People are disheartened, devastated and rightly outraged,” Sweet said in a statement.
Breslow worries that these steps could be paving the way for the Trump administration to attempt to denaturalize U.S. citizens. The president recently told reporters that he would “absolutely” be open to this. Denaturalization requires lots of resources, and efforts to expand the practice would likely face numerous legal hurdles.
Breslow and the staff at Project Citizenship are monitoring these developments, she said, but the current situation is worrying enough.
“It just leaves me speechless that we’re in this position right now,” she said.
Ross CristantielloStaff Writer
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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