The federal government has canceled local naturalization ceremonies for prospective citizens in counties across New York. The ceremony is the last step in the U.S. citizenship process.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) sent letters to at least seven county clerks, including in Broome and Tompkins counties, informing them that scheduled naturalization ceremonies would be halted indefinitely.
In a statement, USCIS Spokesperson Matthew J. Tragresser said the agency had determined that the counties “do not meet the statutory requirements to conduct naturalization ceremonies.”
Tragresser said the agency would transition from “judicial” naturalizations carried out by the courts to “administrative” ceremonies by USCIS officials. He added that people whose naturalization ceremonies were cancelled will be rescheduled.
American Civic Association (ACA) Executive Director Hussein Adams said the organization, which guides immigrants through the naturalization process, had been informed by USCIS in late October that local naturalization ceremonies were cancelled.
“Initially we were told that it was possibly because of the government shutdown,” Adams said.
But Tuesday, the ACA was informed that the federal government was transitioning away from allowing county courts to conduct naturalization ceremonies entirely.
“There's mixed messages, you know, I'm not sure what the true agenda is,” Adams said. “But I do know, and we do know, that the current government has been trying to take and have complete control basically, over every aspect of immigration, legal, documented, undocumented, illegal.”
Adams said he is telling ACA clients it is likely that their ceremonies will be rescheduled in different locations.
“Be patient. Anyone who was this far, there's a very slim chance that this can be taken away from them,” Adams said. “They have legal status already, and they've had legal status in many cases for years. So if they've gotten to this point, hopefully they'll just be sent to a different jurisdiction to have this ceremony.”
Tompkins County Executive Deputy Clerk Rachel Graham has been involved with planning naturalization ceremonies for 18 years. She said her office received an email cancelling all further ceremonies last Friday, including the three scheduled for 2026.
“There’s a lot of unanswered questions.”
She said that around 20 to 30 people become citizens at an average ceremony, most of them from Tompkins or Cortland counties.
Moving that ceremony to federal facilities farther away makes the immigration process harder to complete.
“It really negatively impacts our residents' ability to complete the naturalization process, traveling outside the county for people with limited resources, work obligations, childcare responsibilities and mobility challenges,” Graham said.
She said it also takes away the “personal touch” of a local ceremony.
“I would just say that they are truly the very best and most joyful work days of the year. We work hard to ensure each ceremony is meaningful and memorable, and that our new community members feel celebrated and most importantly welcomed with open arms.”