U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services administer the Oath of Allegiance during a special naturalization ceremony at Everglades National Park, Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center in Homestead on Wednesday, July 3, 2019.
South Floridians from Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela expecting to become U.S. citizens this week learned instead that their naturalization ceremonies had been canceled after the Trump administration issued a sweeping directive aimed at halting immigration from so-called high-risk countries.
The cancellations, confirmed by multiple immigration attorneys, came after the Trump administration on Tuesday paused immigration from 19 nations and froze all asylum claims.
Wilfredo Allen, a Cuban-American lawyer based in Miami, said he received a notice that the naturalization ceremony scheduled for Wednesday for one of his clients, a Cuban woman, had been canceled. Another attorney, Patricia Elizée, told the Miami Herald that two Haitian clients expecting to become citizens on Friday also learned their ceremony had been canceled.
Online, attorneys around the country reported similar cancellations.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond on Wednesday to questions from the Herald.
The new directive to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — issued in the wake of the fatal shooting in Washington of two National Guardsmen, allegedly by an Afghan man — affects everything from green card applications to work permits for individuals from the 19 “high-risk” countries.
The directive also puts on hold all asylum applications, regardless of the country the applicant is from.
Allen, the immigration attorney, said another client, a Ukrainian woman seeking asylum, was also notified that an in-person decision on her case had been postponed.
“The government’s goal is very clear: to create panic and uncertainty in the immigrant community,” he said.
Allen said the sweeping new policy, including the review of immigration decisions since 2021, does not seem feasible and is likely to be challenged in court.
Three large communities affected in South Florida
The new policy is creating anxiety, particularly in South Florida, home to many immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean who are already coping with years-long backlogs for asylum interviews, green cards and naturalization ceremonies.
The 19 affected countries had already faced varying levels of restrictions, after President Trump placed them under a U.S. travel ban in June.
Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela faced partial bans affecting tourist, business, and student visas; while nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen faced full visa suspensions for immigrant and non-immigrant categories.
The Trump administration’s policies have particularly targeted three communities long woven into the fabric of Miami: Cubans, Venezuelans and Haitians.
Over a million people from these countries lost legal protections when Temporary Protected Status and humanitarian parole established under the Biden administration were ended earlier this year. Many have sought to remain in the U.S. by applying for asylum, or in the case of Cubans, adjusting their status under the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows them to become a permanent U.S. resident after being in the country for a year and one day. With the recent announcement, all now find themselves once more in legal limbo.
A Venezuelan woman who wanted to be identified only by her nickname, Beth, out of fear of retaliation, said she was hoping to finally become a U.S. citizen after being a resident since 2020.
The woman, who migrated to the U.S. to avoid political persecution, said she’s had a green card after applying for an EB-1 visa, which is for individuals with extraordinary abilities.
Beth, who is in her mid-50s, applied for a visa in 2018 during Trump’s first term. Like many Venezuelans she says she fled her home country to avoid political persecution.
This October, she applied for naturalization, but under the new policy, she does not know when she will be able to become a U.S. citizen.
“It’s outrageous what’s happening,” she said. “My lawyer told me that all citizenship exam appointments, even naturalization ceremonies, are being postponed. I’ve been in this country for more than seven years. I love this country—why is the administration doing this? Why this narrative against Venezuelans?”
She was not the only one asking questions on Wednesday.
Congressman Carlos Gimenez, a Miami Republican serving on the House Homeland Security Committee, told the Herald in a statement that he has “requested details from DHS on how these rules will be implemented.”
“My position has remained that all lawful migrants from Cuba, Venezuela & Nicaragua should have their asylum cases weighed on a case-by-case basis,” he said. “The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 provides a codified, legal framework for Cuban exiles to contribute meaningfully to our nation, and I oppose any measure that would undermine it.”
The USCIS Application Support Center in North Miami Beach, normally busy with immigrants attending biometrics appointments for new or renewed green cards, was unusually quiet after the Department of Homeland Security issued a memo placing all pending asylum applications and USCIS benefit applications from high-risk countries on hold. Jacqueline Charles
At the USCIS Application Support Center in North Miami Beach, where immigrants go for biometrics appointments for new green cards or renewals, the scene was unusually quiet.
Absent was the usual bustle of people arriving for appointments with their important documents in brown envelopes, or lingering in lines waiting their turn to enter.
Shortly after noon, only five people were outside, two of whom quickly left without entering. A 37-year-old Venezuelan woman, who would identify herself only as Adriana, said she had accompanied a family member inside.
The announcement “provides even more pressure for the community,” said the woman, who has lived in the United States for 10 years. “But I respect it, I accept it.” She declined to say what her own immigration status currently is, but added that the announcement has made “a lot of people nervous.”
It’s too early to tell what the overall impact of Tuesday’s order from DHS will be, Fort Lauderdale-based immigration attorney Mark Douglas said in an interview. Like other attorneys, he’s fielding calls from worried clients.
“It is a slippery slope that is not only going to affect people who are applying for benefits that are out of status, but certainly, people who are applying for citizenship,” he said. “It’s certainly created a lot of anxieties.”
Douglas, who has worked as an immigration attorney for 20 years in South Florida, said the calls started trickling in last week when the Trump administration announced a review of green cards of individuals from the 19 countries and a pause in all asylum decisions for migrants in the United States. But the concerns of immigrants extend beyond the targeted countries, Douglas said.
“People believe that, given the overall tone, that discretion will be applied unfavorably toward their case, even though they’re from countries that were not named,” he said. “From my experience, I know that … the potential for being deported and losing connection to family and everything that people built here creates more anxiety, probably, than spending a few months in jail.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2025 at 6:04 PM.
Verónica Egui Brito
el Nuevo Herald
Verónica Egui Brito ha profundizado en temas sociales apremiantes y de derechos humanos. Cubre noticias dentro de la vibrante ciudad de Hialeah y sus alrededores para el Nuevo Herald y el Miami Herald. Se unió al Herald en 2022. Verónica Egui Brito has delved into pressing social, and human rights issues. She covers news within the vibrant city of Hialeah, and its surrounding areas for el Nuevo Herald, and the Miami Herald. Joined the Herald in 2022.
