Sweetadelinevt
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“She showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled.”

https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-12-05/immigrants-kept-from-faneuil-hall-citizenship-ceremony-as-feds-crackdown-nationwide

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Immigrants kept from Faneuil Hall citizenship ceremony as feds crackdown nationwide

Trump administration is pausing naturalizations for immigrants from 19 countries.
www.wgbh.org
Dec 5, 2025, 5:56 PM

News > Local News

Immigrants kept from Faneuil Hall citizenship ceremony as feds crackdown nationwide


New citizens hold flags and paperwork during a naturalization ceremony, where nearly 200 people from 54 different countries became United States citizens, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Boston.
Charles Krupa AP

Sarah Betancourt
December 05, 2025

Becoming a U.S. citizen takes years and involves immigrants acquiring a green card, extensive interviews, background checks, classes and a citizenship test. The naturalization ceremony is the final step to the process, where the oath of allegiance and a citizenship certificate are granted.

Immigrants approved to be naturalized went to Faneuil Hall Thursday — known as the country’s cradle of liberty — for that long-awaited moment to pledge allegiance to the United States. But instead, as they lined up, some were told by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials that they couldn’t proceed due to their countries of origin.

The same situation is playing out at naturalization events across the country as USCIS directed its employees to halt adjudicating all immigration pathways for people from 19 countries deemed to be “high risk”.

“One of our clients said that she had gone to her oath ceremony because she hadn’t received the cancellation notice in time,” said Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship. “She showed up as scheduled, and when she arrived, officers were asking everyone what country they were from, and if they said a certain country, they were told to step out of line and that their oath ceremonies were canceled."

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