The closure cancels the US citizenship ceremony

About a dozen of us walked into the U.S. immigration office in Virginia on Saturday morning, people born all over the world excited to take the final step in becoming American citizens.

We grabbed our naturalization notices as we filed through security and lined up at the check-in desk. Soon we will raise our right hands and swear the oath of allegiance to the United States in a ceremony known as solemn and festive. We were carrying little American flags, coming out as citizens.

But then, suddenly, we learned that the concert had been canceled due to the government shutdown.

“You should have been notified,” the clerk at the desk said.

Neither of us received any emails or phone calls. The staff at the entrance let us in without warning, raising the possibility that they wouldn’t be notified as well.

Later, when I checked the USCIS website, it was temporarily down.

When it came back online, I saw that my appointment had been canceled days earlier “due to unforeseen circumstances.” If you don’t check out the site yourself, you’ll never know.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the notice said.

Around me in the office, disappointment quickly turned to confusion.

A woman in a hijab quietly asked me if I had been rejected as well, fearing it might be because of her clothing.

A man gathered his family to celebrate his final step toward becoming a US citizen, but left anxious and unsure.

Some people seemed genuinely afraid, wondering how the delay would affect their work, lives and plans.

This was more than just an inconvenience.

Some of us have spent years studying papers and interviews, as well as preparing for the citizenship test. More than a decade after receiving my green card, I decided to become a citizen and vote. We are all now stuck in limbo.

At the office, we were asked to come back on November 1st. As the federal shutdown continues, there is a chance it may decline.

The Immigration Service is funded largely by application fees, so it typically remains open during a government shutdown.

But its director, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on X that public services such as interviews and naturalization ceremonies could be delayed. He added that the agency “regrets any negative effects, but must ensure its compliance with the law.”

It is not clear how many 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 celebrations. Anecdotal reports have spread online about other swearing-in ceremonies that have been cancelled.

What’s also unclear is when the government will reopen.

Republicans and Democrats have been deadlocked over government funding since Oct. 1, triggering a nationwide shutdown that put more than 700,000 federal workers on unpaid leave.

Add to this the many rapid changes to US immigration policies in the past nine months, and anxiety among those of us working to become US citizens is set to intensify. The implications of Washington’s gridlock extend to the daily lives—and perhaps the future—of those of us who hope to call the United States our permanent home.