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The Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar sent a letter this Tuesday to the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, requesting that he resume citizenship processes and naturalization ceremonies for Cubans and Venezuelans in South Florida, without compromising national security.
Salazar published the letter on X and explained that tens of thousands of people, many of them Cubans and Venezuelans, remain in limbo after having done everything correctly.
"They complied with the law, passed all the filters, and they have earned it," he added.
The letter, dated March 27, arrives days after Mullin took office as the ninth Secretary of Homeland Security, having been confirmed by the Senate with 54 votes in favor and 45 against on March 23 and sworn in the following day.
Salazar, who coincided with Mullin in Congress, asks him to act on one of his first decisions as head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and to resume processing applications for immigration benefits and naturalizations for Cuban and Venezuelan nationals.
"Many of these Cuban and Venezuelan nationals fled persecution and violence and are eager to truly live the American dream," wrote the Cuban-American politician. "These individuals have already undergone thorough vetting."
The pause that Salazar requests to lift was ordered by USCIS on December 2nd through memorandum PM-602-0192, which suspended indefinitely all immigration benefit applications -including naturalizations, residencies, and citizenship ceremonies- for nationals of 19 countries deemed high risk, including Cuba and Venezuela.
The measure was promoted by then-Secretary Kristi Noem following a fatal shooting involving two National Guard members in Washington D.C. carried out by an Afghan national. A second memo, issued on January 1, expanded the list to include 39 additional countries plus the Palestinian Authority.
Noem was dismissed in March 2026 following controversies in her immigration management, including raids in Minneapolis that resulted in the deaths of two American citizens.
Salazar proposed in his letter to maintain the enhanced security measures, but without halting the naturalization process. "We can intensify the security review without pausing the naturalization process," he argued.
"The individuals affected by this pause are legal immigrants who have been here, have obtained legal permanent residency, and qualify to become citizens," he explained.
The congresswoman also points out the direct impact in Miami, a city that typically hosts dozens of naturalization ceremonies each year. "The pause in processing has completely shut this down," she warned, specifying that it has prevented "tens of thousands of Cubans and Venezuelans, many of whom I know personally," from becoming U.S. citizens.
This is not the first time Salazar has distanced herself from the hardline stance of her party on this issue: last December she had already publicly described the pause as "anti-American" and a "collective punishment" against legal immigrants.
As a final argument, the congresswoman appeals to the symbolism of the 250th anniversary of the nation, coming up on July 4, 2026: "There would be nothing more appropriate than to be able to naturalize new Americans on our semi-quincentennial anniversary, just as we did at the founding of our great nation."
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