They were almost American – then Trump cancelled their citizenship ceremonies

Sanam, an Iranian immigrant who came to the US over a decade ago, was finally about to become a US citizen. Years of navigating paperwork, approvals, tests, and security vetting, had brought her to the last step: a naturalization ceremony.

But then, just two days before she was to take her oath on 3 December, the US government abruptly cancelled it.

Sanam was shocked and confused at first – there was no explanation. She didn’t understand why the ceremony was cancelled when she hadn’t done anything wrong, she told the BBC.

Later, she found out it was because of where she was born, and sadness and frustration crept in.

“It’s been just years and just feeling drained and feeling like, can I even keep going with this process? Because it’s been so hard,” Sanam said. “It’s just very heartbreaking.”

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

Her case is one of many – earlier this month the Trump administration began cancelling the citizenship ceremonies of immigrants from 19 countries already subject to a travel ban, including Iran.

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

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

This experience has led Sanam to start reconsidering whether it’s worth it to stay in the US. She still has family in Iran, including her aging parents, and she doesn’t know when she’ll be able to see them again.

“It’s hard to think about hope at this point,” she said. “It’s a really scary time and unfortunately as we approach the holidays, it’s just really sad that people are going through this, and it’s supposed to be a season of joy and getting together with your family.”

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

The move, and others like it, came in the days after an Afghan national opened fire on National Guard members in Washington DC on 26 November, killing one and critically injuring another. The Trump administration has used the shooting as justification for a number of new efforts to tamp down immigration, including sending an additional 500 National Guard troops to DC, reducing the work visa validity period from five years to 18 months, and pausing all asylum claim decisions.

US 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 are in need of protection in dangerous situations.

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

One Venezuelan immigrant, Jorge, was also on the cusp of becoming a US citizen when suddenly, less than 24 hours before his ceremony on 2 December, he was told it had been cancelled without explanation.

“I had everything prepared, including attending the ceremony with my son. To have it cancelled the day before, without any clear reason, left us with no clarity 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 with no criminal history are now being “generalised” alongside people who he believes do require deeper scrutiny.

“I just want those of us who have followed every rule 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.

Mr Bruzzone of the NYIC 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 layers of security checks and health checks.

Living in New York state alone, there were an estimated 132,000 Venezuelan-born people in 2023, according to data gathered by the New York Immigration Coalition.

The halt has disrupted the lives of people at every stage of the immigration process, leaving them to wait it out in a “huge amount of uncertainty”, Mr Bruzzone said.

Sanam’s husband, who chose not to share his name for fear of retaliation, told the BBC that the timeline of events feels astounding.

“If those National Guard members weren’t attacked last week, but this week, [my wife] would be a citizen right now,” he told the BBC the day after Sanam’s oath ceremony was supposed to happen.

“Your mind goes a little bit wild about how quick the mechanism for changing all of these policies came on,” he said. “It just feels like the administration clearly didn’t let a good crisis go to waste in this case. And it’s pretty tough to be underneath that.”