On Saturday morning, about a dozen of us walked into the U.S. immigration office in Virginia, where people born from all over the world excitedly took the final step toward becoming U.S. citizens.
As we passed through security and queued up at the check-in counter, we clung to our naturalization notices. Soon, we will raise our right hands and pledge allegiance to the United States in a ceremony that is both solemn and festive. We walked out as citizens holding little American flags.
But then we suddenly learned that the ceremony was canceled due to the government shutdown.
“You should have been notified,” the front desk clerk said.
None of us received any emails or phone calls. The staff at the entrance let us in without any warning, which raises the possibility that they weren't informed either.
Later, when I checked the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, I found that the website was temporarily inaccessible.
When it came back online I saw that my appointment had been canceled a few days earlier “due to unforeseen circumstances”. You would never know if you didn't check the website yourself.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the notice said.
In the office, the disappointment around me quickly turned to confusion.
A woman in a headscarf asked me softly if I had been turned away too, worried it might be because of her clothes.
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.
This is more than just an inconvenience.
Some of us spent years slogging through paperwork and interviews and preparing for the citizenship test. More than ten years after receiving my green card, I decided to become a citizen and vote. Now we are all in trouble.
At the office we were told to come back on November 1st. That may disappear, though, as the federal government shutdown continues.
Immigration services are funded primarily by application fees and therefore generally remain open during government shutdowns.
But its director, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on X that public-facing services such as interviews and naturalization ceremonies may be delayed. He added that the agency “regrets any negative impact but must ensure compliance with the law”.
It's unclear how many USCIS appointments or swearing-in ceremonies have been canceled nationwide. The service lists field office closures on its web page but does not provide a total number of canceled ceremonies. Rumors circulated online about other oath-taking ceremonies being canceled.
Also unclear is when the government will reopen.
Since October 1, Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked over government funding, leading to a government shutdown that has put more than 700,000 federal workers on unpaid leave.
Coupled with the many rapid changes in U.S. immigration policy over the past nine months, the anxiety for those of us working to become U.S. citizens has only intensified. The effects of the gridlock in Washington are affecting the daily lives and possibly futures of those of us who hope to call the United States our permanent home.