About a dozen of us walked into a US immigration office in Virginia on Saturday morning, people born all over the world excited to take the final step in becoming American citizens.
We clutched our naturalisation notices as we filed through security and lined up at the check-in desk. Soon, we would raise our right hands and swear the Oath of Allegiance to the United States in a ceremony that is known as both solemn and celebratory. Carrying small American flags, we would walk out citizens.
But then, abruptly, we learned the ceremony had been cancelled because of the government shutdown.
“You should have been notified,” said the staff member at the desk.
None of us had received any emails or phone calls. The staff at the entrance had let us in without warning, raising the possibility that they too had not been notified.
Later, when I checked the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, it was temporarily down.
When it came back online, I saw my appointment had been cancelled days earlier “due to unforeseen circumstances.” If you hadn’t checked the website yourself, you would never have known.
“We regret any inconvenience this may cause,” the notice said.
Around me at the office, disappointment quickly turned into confusion.
One woman in a hijab quietly asked if I had been turned away too, worried it might have been because of her clothing.
A man had gathered his family to celebrate his final step to becoming a US citizen, only to leave anxious and uncertain.
A few people seemed genuinely frightened, wondering how the delay might affect their work, lives and plans.
This was more than an inconvenience.
Some of us had spent years plodding through paperwork and interviews, as well as preparing for the citizenship test. After more than a decade of having a green card, I had decided to become a citizen and vote. All of us now were stuck in limbo.
At the office, we were told to come back on 1 November. With the ongoing federal shutdown, though, there’s a chance that could slip.
The immigration service is largely funded by application fees and so it typically stays open during a government shutdown.
But its director, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on X that public-facing services such as interviews and naturalisation ceremonies can be delayed. He added that the agency “regrets any negative impacts but must ensure it complies with the law”.
It’s unclear how many USCIS appointments or oath ceremonies have been cancelled nationwide. The service lists field office closures on a web page, but it does not provide totals for cancelled ceremonies. Anecdotal reports have circulated online about other oath ceremonies that have been scrapped.
What’s also unclear is when the government will reopen.
Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked over government funding since 1 October, leading to a shutdown that has placed more than 700,000 federal workers on unpaid leave.
Add on the many rapid changes made to US immigration policies in the last nine months, and the anxiety among those of us working to become American citizens can only rise. The effects of a Washington stalemate are rippling into the everyday lives – and possibly futures – of those of us hoping to call the US our permanent home.
