The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, which had canceled naturalization ceremonies in several upstate New York counties, has reinstated the celebrations after an appeal from a congressman who said “the decision shouldn’t have happened.”
The agency had said on Tuesday that county courts did not meet federal requirements to conduct naturalization ceremonies, and that it had chosen to stop them as a result. At the time, Matthew J. Tragesser, a spokesman for the agency, said that applicants whose naturalization ceremonies had been scheduled would receive new appointments and that their naturalization processes would continue elsewhere.
But on Friday, Representative Mike Lawler, a Republican whose district includes parts of Westchester County, said that he had spoken with Joseph B. Edlow, the director of the citizenship agency, urging him to reverse the decision. He said that Mr. Edlow had done so on Thursday afternoon.
“When you have people who actively choose to want to become American citizens and swear an allegiance to this country, it’s a wonderful moment and that’s something that we should celebrate,” Mr. Lawler said in a telephone interview.
Officials with the citizenship agency did not respond to questions about the restoration of the ceremonies, including why they had changed their mind.
At least seven counties had been affected by the interruption, said Timothy C. Idoni, the clerk in Westchester County, where officials have held such ceremonies for more than 40 years. Mr. Idoni said that Mr. Lawler had notified his office that the ceremonies had been restored, but as of Friday morning, he had not heard from federal officials by that afternoon.
“They were wrong on the law,” Mr. Idoni wrote in an email. “New York state courts are most certainly qualified to do naturalizations.”
Mr. Lawler — whose wife emigrated from Moldova and is a naturalized citizen — had written a letter to Mr. Edlow a week ago calling the policy change “deeply concerning for new citizens and their families.” Mr. Lawler said that he had spoken with Mr. Edlow twice since then and had received notice from the agency about 5 p.m. Thursday that it had made the change by mistake.
Mr. Idoni said that canceling the ceremonies would complicate the naturalization process for some immigrants.
It would mean that they would have to travel to 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan to complete the final citizenship requirements and to receive naturalization certificates instead of participating in celebratory events arranged by their communities. The building in Manhattan has offices for the citizenship agency as well as for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose agents have arrested immigrants after court appearances as the Trump administration has sought to raise deportation numbers.
Officials in New York City are bracing for a federal immigration crackdown. On Tuesday, President Trump’s top border adviser said that he would deploy the National Guard or more immigration agents to New York City, repeating a threat that took on added weight after the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor. Mr. Mamdani has vowed to resist the Trump administration’s efforts to deport New Yorkers.
Speaking on Fox News, the official, Thomas Homan, said that he was targeting New York City because of its so-called sanctuary policies, which prevent local law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration authorities on most matters.
Ana Ley is a Times reporter covering immigration in New York City.
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