Louisville Immigrants May Face Uncertain Oath Ceremonies Amid Pause

(LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY) Immigrants who thought they were hours away from becoming citizens of the United States 🇺🇸 are being told, sometimes at the ceremony door, that their cases are suddenly on hold after the federal government ordered a halt for people from a list of countries labeled “high-risk.” USCIS confirmed it has paused parts of the naturalization process nationwide, and local advocates in Kentucky say families in Louisville are now asking whether their long-planned oath dates could vanish with little warning.

What the pause means and how it started

The change traces back to a December 2, 2025 policy memorandum from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that, according to the provided material, implements President Trump’s restrictions tied to a June 2025 White House proclamation. The directive is blunt: USCIS paused naturalization adjudications, including oath ceremonies, for applicants from 19 designated high-risk countries, while the agency conducts extra screening.

USCIS said it “paused all adjudications for aliens from high-risk countries while USCIS works to ensure that all aliens from these countries are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

Although no recent report confirms a Louisville ceremony where would-be citizens were turned away, the policy applies nationwide. Any local applicant from the affected list could see an interview or oath cancelled with the same last-minute timing described elsewhere.

Lawyers and community groups say the uncertainty is its own blow: people have already passed civics tests, background checks, and years of waiting, only to be told there is no clear new date.

The 19 designated “high-risk” countries

The memo names 19 high-risk countries. These are:

• Afghanistan
• Burundi
• Chad
• Republic of the Congo
• Cuba
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Haiti
• Iran
• Laos
• Libya
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Togo
• Turkmenistan
• Venezuela
• Yemen
• Burma (Myanmar)

For many families, these are not abstract policy targets but the places they fled—often after war, state violence, or political collapse—and where they may no longer have safe ties or working government paperwork.

Reported incidents and local impacts

The sharpest public example in the material came in Indianapolis on December 9, 2025, when the Indiana Bar Foundation held its “We the People” naturalization ceremony at Union Station. The Marion County Clerk’s Office said 38 of 100 prospective citizens were turned away just before the oath.

Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell told officials she had received no further guidance on what comes next for those applicants. Local organizers were left to field calls from confused families who had arrived dressed up, with guests in tow, expecting the final step.

In Indianapolis, officials said many of those turned away came from Burmese and Haitian communities. Organizers worried about how to explain the change to people who had practiced the oath and invited family members.

In Boston, advocates reported that some people were removed from lines in public view, adding embarrassment to the delay and leaving applicants unsure when, or if, they’ll be called. Immigrants from Haiti, Venezuela, and other covered countries were pulled from lines at Faneuil Hall ceremonies on December 4 and 5, 2025, according to the material.

• Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship, reported clients notified after full vetting under the old process.
• Reporter Sarah Betancourt of GBH News confirmed that four clients from the MIRA Coalition were removed.

One applicant described in the material, identified only as “Jane” from the Republic of the Congo, was about a month away from her ceremony when she learned she was now in limbo.

Federal rationale and practical consequences

Federal officials framed the pause as a security measure. The Department of Homeland Security said USCIS stopped adjudications for the listed countries to maximize vetting. The memo requires broad re-reviews and possible re-interviews for people who arrived on or after January 20, 2021.

In practice, this means:

• Even applicants who cleared earlier checks can be pulled back into a new round of review.
• There may be no clear timeline for the re-review.
• The review can occur at any point before the oath, including after a ceremony has been scheduled.

The White House proclamation that the memo builds on came after the killing of a National Guardsman in Washington, D.C., and it listed the countries as “of concern,” the material says. By tying naturalization to that list, the agency turned a late stage of the process—often treated as ceremonial—into another screening gate.

Applicants report cancellation notices that give no reason beyond the country designation and no clear path to fix it, even when they have lived in the U.S. for years, paid taxes, and stayed out of trouble.

Why this hits recently arrived groups hardest

The memo’s focus on re-reviewing people who entered on or after January 20, 2021 also hits groups central to recent resettlement and humanitarian efforts. Many Afghans arrived in that period through emergency programs after the fall of Kabul, and Haitians and Venezuelans have also come amid fast-moving crises.

Naturalization is not just a passport; it is often the first moment people believe they are safe from the next policy swing. The pause reopens old fears about whether a person will be judged by birthplace rather than their record.

Immediate practical consequences for applicants

For applicants, the immediate worries are concrete and pressing:

• Travel plans may be disrupted.
• Jobs or benefits that depend on a firm citizenship date can be delayed.
• Voter registration drives tied to ceremonies may be halted.
• Family sponsorship plans can be frozen, since U.S. citizens can file certain petitions that permanent residents cannot.
• The pause does not strip anyone of a green card, but it can delay urgent actions like sponsoring a spouse abroad or applying for a U.S. passport.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the lack of clear next steps is likely to drive more requests for help at congressional offices, local legal clinics, and immigrant service groups, especially as cancellations arrive close to scheduled oath dates.

What advocates and officials are saying

The pattern reported across jurisdictions is consistent:

1. Notices arrive.
2. Ceremonies stop.
3. Local offices and advocates cannot give a reliable timeline.

The Indianapolis clerk’s office, Boston advocates, and unnamed applicants described in the material all point to the same sequence of events and confusion.

“People have been through years of waiting and vetting. Now they’re being told there is no clear new date,” advocates explain—capturing the uncertainty and personal toll.

Guidance for affected applicants

USCIS has not published a public calendar for when these paused cases will restart. The agency’s public guidance on naturalization does not yet spell out how the extra screening will be handled for the 19 high-risk countries.

Applicants and their lawyers are advised to:

• Keep their addresses current with USCIS.
• Watch for rescheduled notices through official USCIS channels.
• Check USCIS resources, including the agency’s naturalization information page at USCIS Naturalization Information.
• Contact local legal clinics, congressional offices, or immigrant service groups for assistance.

With another Indianapolis ceremony planned for December 18, 2025, the material suggests more families could face the same quiet shock: arriving ready to swear the oath and being told to wait again.