At a Boston naturalization ceremony, some applicants were pulled from the oath line after being asked their country of birth because their nations were on a Trump‑era travel ban. A 5 December USCIS memorandum ordered re‑reviews and potential re‑interviews for nationals of 19 countries after the 26 November shooting in Washington, DC. Advocacy groups report cancellations and pauses across many US cities, and immigration advocates warn that new denaturalization targets could expand efforts to strip or block legal status.
Naturalization Ceremonies Paused as USCIS Re-reviews Nationals From 19 Countries
An attendee holds the US flag and the lyrics of the Star-Spangled Banner during a naturalization ceremony in Mount Vernon, Virginia, on 4 July 2025.Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
What should have been a joyful milestone at Boston’s historic Faneuil Hall became a scene of confusion and heartbreak when US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) staff asked would‑be citizens to state their country of birth and then removed applicants from the oath line if their birthplace matched nations on a Trump‑era travel ban. Several people who had completed years of vetting were sent home and told their ceremonies or pending interviews were delayed or canceled.
What Happened
On 5 December, USCIS issued a memorandum directing field offices to pause certain immigration proceedings for nationals of 19 countries listed by the administration, citing the 26 November shooting in Washington, DC, allegedly carried out by an Afghan national as a security justification. The memo called for comprehensive re‑reviews and, where necessary, re‑interviews of applicants who entered the US on or after 20 January 2021.
Immediate Impact
Advocacy groups and legal services reported canceled or paused oath ceremonies and interviews in more than a dozen cities, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Houston, St. Louis and Omaha. One nonprofit, Project Citizenship, said 21 of its clients had oath ceremonies canceled and more than 200 cases were paused at earlier stages.
“The image of officers going down a line and asking people where they were born, and based on the answer pulling them out of line and sending them home, is gut‑wrenching,” said Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship.
Personal Stories
Those affected include a Haitian nursing assistant in her 50s who has lived in the US for nearly 25 years and a Libyan doctor who said his green‑card application was halted despite a decade of work in the United States on an O‑1/EB‑1 visa. Many impacted applicants declined media requests out of fear that publicity could expose them to enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Broader Concerns
Immigrant advocates warn the move is part of a broader pattern to tighten enforcement against legal residents and citizens. Reports that USCIS field offices were instructed to provide the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation with 100–200 denaturalization cases per month during fiscal 2026 alarmed advocates; by comparison, only 120 denaturalization cases were filed between 2017 and 2025.
Federal law allows denaturalization only in limited circumstances, such as fraud in the naturalization application. Critics say recent guidance and memos expand the categories targeted and could stretch legal interpretations to increase revocations, potentially pairing halted naturalizations with a new push to strip citizenship from some already naturalized Americans.
“Everything here feels like part of a larger, ominous agenda to have exclusion,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, comparing the approach to historical episodes of exclusion.
What’s Next
USCIS field offices are implementing the re‑review guidance, and legal advocates are preparing challenges and advising affected clients. Immigration lawyers say affected steps include green‑card interviews, naturalization interviews, and the final oath ceremony. The situation remains fluid as community groups, legal nonprofits and city offices track cancellations and seek clarification from federal authorities.
Key facts: USCIS issued the re‑review memo on 5 December; the guidance targets nationals of 19 countries and applies to people who entered the US on or after 20 January 2021. Denaturalization case targets for FY2026 — if enforced — would represent a dramatic increase over recent years.
