Naturalization appointments and ceremonies across the country were abruptly paused last September, causing a ripple effect for many immigrants, who had to cancel travel plans, delay helping family members with their immigration status and reapply for green cards that expired.
Federal officials started slowly rescheduling appointments mid-March, but local attorneys say most of their clients are still waiting to hear whether they’ll receive an appointment, and they worry how long it’ll take to process the backlog.
“This is really heartbreaking to explain to the clients,” said Pelin Sangu, a St. Louis Park immigration attorney. “A last-minute cancellation is really frustrating, because these proceedings take years. They are spending their time, their efforts, their money on it, so it’s very, very hard on them.”
Between January and March of 2025, 3,368 immigrants were naturalized in Minnesota compared to 137 in the same period this year, according to the U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
Several local attorneys told Sahan Journal it’s unclear who is being selected to finish the naturalization process.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the federal citizenship agency, issued a policy memo halting applications for immigrants from 19 countries last year. The memo stated that the pause was for federal officials to “re-review” the applications for naturalization, visas and green cards. Earlier this year, the citizenship agency expanded the list to include 20 more countries, including Laos, Haiti, the Republic of Congo and Somalia. Some local attorneys said they are noticing that more clients with cancelled naturalization appointments and ceremonies are from countries on the list.
Kilo Kisongo, co-founder of Voice in the Wilderness, a local nonprofit that helps resettle Congolese refugees, said many of his organization’s clients are frustrated with the long wait times to process their naturalization applications, worried they did something wrong. Many don’t understand “this is beyond our power,” he said.
Mark Pfeifer, director of the programs at the Hmong Cultural Center, said many of his organization’s clients had their naturalization appointments cancelled. At least one client had passed their citizenship test but never received a date for the naturalization ceremony or certificate officially recognizing them as a U.S. citizen.
“I didn’t think it would ever come to this point,” Pfeifer told Sahan Journal.
Typically, immigrants wait five years as a lawful permanent resident, also known as a green card holder, before they can apply for U.S. citizenship. They pay $710 to file the application online. Many of them take classes to prepare for a civics test administered by a federal official. The residency requirement is three years for immigrants who are married to a U.S. citizen. Immigrants cannot apply if they’ve committed certain crimes.
The naturalization interview is conducted in person with a USCIS officer, and includes tests of an applicant’s ability to write, read and speak English. Applicants must also take a civics test about U.S. history and government, and must also supply background information, including their country of citizenship and employer’s name.
Naturalized U.S. citizens can vote in elections and apply for a U.S. passport, and cannot be deported, among other benefits.
It’s unclear how many immigrants or who is specifically targeted by the pause on naturalization, said Brian Aust, a Minneapolis immigration attorney.
“It was just a very sudden and wide-ranging and impactful cancellation,” he added.
Thirteen clients at the International Institute of Minnesota, an immigrant advocacy nonprofit, had naturalization interviews between January and April of this year compared to 202 clients at the same time last year, said Rachel Kohler, the nonprofit’s immigration attorney.
“It’s a pretty significant difference,” she said.
The institute has seen a 50% drop in the number of clients enrolled in citizenship classes compared to last year.
“It really feels like this is a country that doesn’t welcome immigrants anymore,” said Jane Graupman, the institute’s executive director.
Paschal Nwokocha, a Minneapolis immigration attorney, said his clients were devastated when their naturalization appointments were cancelled. One of his clients applied for citizenship to receive a U.S. passport because, he said, they didn’t feel comfortable traveling out of the country to visit relatives amid ramped up immigration enforcement. But his client’s oath ceremony was cancelled.
“It is very frustrating, because this is not for anything the client did,” Nwokocha said. “It’s not because they’re ineligible. It’s not because they violated any laws. It’s just because of where they are born.”
The pause on naturalization was one of the many ways the Trump administration has narrowed the path to U.S. citizenship for immigrants. In the last year, the administration has also attempted to strip birthright citizenship, added more questions in the citizenship civics test and tightened standards to evaluate the “moral character” of applicants for citizenship.
USCIS spokesman Matthew Tragesser said in an email that the federal government “will not take shortcuts in the adjudications process.”
He defended changes made to the citizenship process in 2025, which included screening applicants’ social media for “anti-American activities,” “strengthened” English language requirements, and policies encouraging federal officials to investigate applicants by reviewing testimonial letters from their family members, coworkers and neighbors.
“For years, the Biden administration prioritized rubberstamping naturalization applications with minimal vetting,” his statement said.
Tragesser did not respond to questions about wait times for rescheduling naturalization appointments and ceremonies, or why they were cancelled last year.
