This essay was originally published on CommonWealth Beacon. You can read the entire piece here.
In early December, S Citizenship and Immigration Services officials made national headlines when they canceled citizenship ceremonies for naturalized Americans at Faneuil Hall in Boston. According to reports, the people “were asked to step out of line” at the event “just before taking the final step of the US naturalization process” for which they had “fulfilled every requirement.” The cancellations were part of the Trump administration’s national crackdown on immigration from 19 countries deemed “high risk.”
As a ranger for the National Park Service at Faneuil Hall for three seasons, I met many naturalized Americans who returned there to reminisce about when they became US citizens in the place where it happened. These moments are powerful. We rangers feel the emotions people bring with them.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Service’s cancellations provoked such heated pushback from Bostonians because of the historical gravity of US citizenship and Faneuil Hall. For centuries, Bostonians and visitors have invested complex symbolic meaning in the building and traditions that occur there.dismissed both the ideals of participatory citizenship and the long struggle of diverse Americans to enjoy its protections.
The Sketch Book of Nick DeLuca 
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