About a dozen of us walked into the U.S. immigration office in Virginia on Saturday morning, people from all over the world eagerly awaiting the final step toward becoming American citizens.
We clutched our naturalization notices as we walked through security and lined up at the check-in counter. We will soon raise our right hands and take the oath of allegiance to the United States in a ceremony that is known to be solemn and celebratory. With small American flags, we left the citizens' house.
But then suddenly we learned that the ceremony was canceled due to the government shutdown.
“You should have been notified,” said the employee behind the counter.
None of us received any letters or phone calls. The staff at the entrance let us in without warning, so it's possible they weren't notified either.
Later, when I checked the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, it was temporarily unavailable.
When it came back online, I saw that my appointment had been canceled a few days earlier “due to unforeseen circumstances.” If you didn't check the site yourself, you would never know.
“We regret any inconvenience this may cause,” the notice said.
Around me in the office, disappointment quickly turned to confusion.
One woman in a hijab quietly asked if I had been rejected too, fearing that it might be because of her clothing.
A man gathered his family to celebrate his final step toward becoming a U.S. citizen, but left feeling anxious and uncertain.
Some people seemed genuinely scared, wondering how the delay might affect their work, lives and plans.
It was more than an inconvenience.
Some of us have spent years completing paperwork and interviews and studying for the citizenship test. After more than ten years of having a green card, I decided to become a citizen and vote. We are all stuck in limbo now.
The office told us to come on November 1st. However, with the ongoing federal government shutdown, there's a chance it could slip through the cracks.
The immigration office is primarily funded by application fees, so it typically remains open during government shutdowns.
But its director, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on X that public services such as interviews and naturalization ceremonies may be postponed. He added that the agency “regrets any negative consequences but must ensure compliance with the law.”
It is unclear how many USCIS appointments or swearing-in ceremonies have been canceled nationwide. The service lists field office closures on a web page but does not provide totals for canceled ceremonies. There have been isolated reports of other swearing-in ceremonies that have been cancelled.
It is also unclear when the government will reopen.
Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked over government funding since Oct. 1, leading to a shutdown that has sent more than 700,000 federal workers on unpaid leave.
Add to this the many rapid changes that have occurred in US immigration policy over the past nine months, and the anxiety among those of us working to become American citizens can only grow. The consequences of the impasse in Washington are affecting the daily lives—and perhaps the future—of those of us who hope to call the United States our permanent home.
