They were almost Americans; then Trump canceled his citizenship ceremonies

Sanam, an Iranian immigrant who came to the United States more than a decade ago, was finally on the verge of becoming an American citizen. Years of paperwork, approvals, tests and security checks had brought her to the final step: a naturalization ceremony.

But then, just two days before he was to be sworn in on Dec. 3, the U.S. government abruptly canceled it.

At first, Sanam was surprised and confused: there was no explanation. She didn’t understand why the ceremony was canceled when she had done nothing wrong, she told the BBC.

Later, she discovered that it was because of where she was born, and sadness and frustration overwhelmed her.

“It’s only been years and I’ve been feeling exhausted and thinking, can I keep going with this process? Because it’s been so difficult,” Sanam said. “It’s very heartbreaking.”

Sanam, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation but decided to share her nickname, lives in Oregon with her husband, a U.S. citizen from Kansas. His identity has been verified by the BBC.

His case is one of many: Earlier this month, the Trump administration began canceling citizenship ceremonies for immigrants from 19 countries already subject to a travel ban, including Iran.

That controversial decision left some legal permanent residents like Sanam – people who had already gone through every step of the process to become US citizens and were just waiting for the final formality – in an indefinite state of uncertainty.

“It feels like our life is in this state of limbo, unstable,” Sanam said, adding that she and her husband feel “at the mercy of what the government decides.”

This experience has led Sanam to begin reconsidering whether it is worth staying in the United States. He still has family in Iran, including his elderly parents, and does not know when he will be able to see them again.

“It’s hard to think about hope right now,” he said. “It’s a really scary time, and unfortunately, as we get closer to the holidays, it’s really sad that people are going through this, and it’s supposed to be a season of joy and getting together with family.”

The cancellation of swearing-in ceremonies is just one part of the Trump administration’s latest efforts to tighten immigration rules. Immigrants from the 19 countries already subject to a travel ban have had their immigration processing paused no matter where they are in the process, not just those at the final step.

The move, and others like it, came days after an Afghan national opened fire on members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 26, killing one and seriously wounding another. The Trump administration has used the shooting as justification for a series of new efforts to curb immigration, including sending 500 additional National Guard troops to D.C., reducing the validity period of work visas from five years to 18 months, and suspending all decisions on asylum applications.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has said the restrictions are necessary to safeguard national security, protect American lives and ensure public safety.

But Mario Bruzzone, vice president of policy at the New York Immigration Coalition, a nonprofit that represents hundreds of immigrant rights groups, said the restrictions put immigrants who need protection in dangerous situations.

“An indefinite pause is a ban, plain and simple, and they are using the recent shooting in DC as a pretext for an escalation of attacks against immigrants and refugees,” Bruzzone told the BBC.

A Venezuelan immigrant, Jorge, was also about to become a U.S. citizen when suddenly, less than 24 hours before his Dec. 2 ceremony, he was told it had been canceled without explanation.

“I had everything prepared, including attending the ceremony with my son. Having it canceled the day before, for no clear reason, left us unclear about the next steps,” Jorge said.

Jorge, which is not his real name, has asked to remain anonymous, but his identity and experience have been verified by the BBC. He said he obtained permanent residency in 2017 through the “extraordinary ability” category, which is reserved for professionals at the top of their field.

Jorge agrees with the Trump administration that there should be “stricter reviews” of immigrants, he told the BBC. He blames the Biden administration for allowing too many immigrants into the country and added that if he had been able to vote, he would have supported President Donald Trump.

What concerns him, he said, is that long-term residents without criminal records are now being “generalized” along with people who he believes require deeper scrutiny.

“I just want those of us who have followed all the rules to be able to move forward with our cases, and for those who have committed fraud or crimes to face the appropriate legal consequences,” Jorge said.

NYIC’s Bruzzone said many immigrants from the 19 countries – including refugees, asylum seekers and legal permanent residents like Sanam and Jorge – have already gone through extensive vetting that takes years and has multiple levels of security checks and health checks.

In New York state alone, there were an estimated 132,000 people born in Venezuela in 2023, according to data collected by the New York Immigration Coalition.

The suspension has disrupted people’s lives at every stage of the immigration process, leaving them waiting in “enormous uncertainty,” Bruzzone said.

Sanam’s husband, who chose not to share his name for fear of reprisals, told the BBC that the chronology of events seems astonishing.

“If those members of the National Guard were not attacked last week, but this week, [my wife] I would be a citizen right now,” he told the BBC the day after Sanam’s swearing-in ceremony was supposed to take place.

“You go a little crazy thinking about how quickly the mechanism appeared to change all these policies,” he said. “It just seems like the administration clearly didn’t let a good crisis go to waste in this case. And it’s pretty tough to be under that.”