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In the midst of the most radical shift in U.S. immigration policy in decades, the administration of Donald Trump has begun to cancel citizenship ceremonies for immigrants from countries included in the new travel ban list, as confirmed by .
The measure, implemented quietly and without prior warning, left individuals from Venezuela, Iran, and Afghanistan, who had already met all the legal requirements for naturalization, without the final ceremony that grants citizenship to thousands of immigrants each year.
Sources cited by ABC News reported that the ceremonies scheduled for the end of this week have been canceled without providing explanations to those affected.
These cancellations occur just a few days after the Trump administration ordered a total pause on asylum decisions, following the shooting that claimed the life of a National Guard soldier at the hands of an Afghan immigrant. Since then, the government has used the case as justification to
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated to ABC News that the administration is reviewing “all immigration benefits granted by the Biden administration to foreigners from countries of interest,” reinforcing the message that citizenship has ceased to be an acquired right and has become a privilege dependent on political and security criteria defined by the White House.
"The Trump Administration is doing everything possible to ensure that those who become citizens are the best among the best," said the spokesperson.
An immigration lawyer cited by ABC News stated that naturalization interviews for individuals from those countries have also been canceled, once again without explanation.
19 countries under prohibition: a list that includes Cuba
The new travel ban list includes 19 countries, among them Afghanistan, Iran, Haiti, Somalia, Venezuela, and Cuba. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, stated that she recommended President Trump add even more countries, without specifying which ones.
In this context, the official message is unequivocal: The United States is defining who will be “welcome” and who will not based on increasingly broad and politicized criteria.
Noem has gone even further, labeling immigrants from certain countries as "murderers, leeches, and addicted to welfare," while proposing a total entry ban for nations that allegedly "flood" the U.S. with foreigners.
Although it has not yet been reported whether there are any Cubans directly affected, the inclusion of Cuba on the list of countries with travel restrictions places thousands of Cubans in the U.S. in a scenario of increased scrutiny, potential delays, and legitimate fear that their immigration processes may be halted or reviewed.
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