More than two dozen people sat quietly and attentively in the Old State Capitol building waiting to take their oath of allegiance to the United States, the final step to become U.S. citizens.
The naturalization ceremony took place in the Representatives Hall where the attendees sat on chairs at wooden desks replicating the space once occupied by Abraham Lincoln when he served as a state legislator in the mid-1800s.
U.S. District Judge Colleen R. Lawless and U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas J. Quivey presided over the Nov. 6 ceremony for the 26 new citizens who hailed from varying countries including Argentina, Congo, Belarus, Philippines, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.
Under the Trump administration the number of people partaking in naturalization ceremonies to become citizens has dwindled as processing time has slowed and more scrutiny has been injected into the proceedings.
An analysis of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data (USCIS) by the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, found naturalization approvals decreased by more than 77% from May 2024 to May 2026. Citizenship denial rates more than doubled in the same period, from 8.3% to 18.1%.
President Donald Trump has made curbing the presence of immigrants in the U.S. and limiting pathways to citizenship his main priority. During his presidential campaign for a second term, he promised to deploy the largest mass deportation operation in the U.S. and protect Americans from immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Several immigration lawyers based in St. Louis tell Illinois Times their clients are experiencing longer waiting periods to secure an interview with an immigration official. They are also facing far more critical examinations with immigration agents and rehashing of their application for permanent residence.
Attorney Arif Haque of Haque Law Practice said an individual may have an “immigration history snag” that was already reviewed and vetted by USCIS previously and found not to be substantial enough to deny the person permanent residency. But under the Trump administration, immigration officials are reviewing the past decisions and now officials may seek to conduct another review and request evidence. Haque said it may deter some from seeking their citizenship.
“Sometimes people just don’t want to be subject to that scrutiny, and they don’t apply, even though they’ve already been scrutinized because there was a condition for them to get their green card,” he said.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights holds citizenship workshops under the New American Initiatives program, a joint collaboration between ICIR and the state. Most are offered in the greater Chicago area, but some take place in central Illinois and elsewhere through regional partners.
Marilu Moreno, ICIRR’s director of program operations, said people who have their permanent residency are obviously interested in obtaining their citizenship but may have hesitations about applying.
“We know that this administration is targeting immigrants, and people understand that acquiring citizenship would provide them with a little bit more security,” she said. “But because of all the changes,even people who want to naturalize are finding it a little bit discouraging right now.”
Moreno listed changes to the test from 100 to 128 possible questions, with applicants having to answer 12 out of 20 questions correctly, versus previously six out of 10. Civil rights groups such as the League of Women Voters have voiced their opposition to the change, arguing it creates barriers without presenting evidence that the alteration is necessary to “protect the integrity of the naturalization process.”
Moreno said there’s also a lag time in processing citizenship applications, obtaining an interview with immigration officials and a reduction in U.S. naturalization oath ceremonies.
The Illinois State Fair hosted a citizenship ceremony in August for 300 people becoming new citizens. Oscar Azofeifa, a native of Costa Rica and Champaign resident who took part in the proceedings, told Illinois Times he had to wait nearly a year after his immigration interview to receive notice of the citizenship ceremony.
With the heightened fear of ICE arrests and reports of random apprehensions, he felt urgency to obtain his citizenship.
“I started to feel not fully safe with my resident status,” Azofeifa said. “That drove me to get citizenship quickly because every time I would travel, there was more questioning. I’ve been here for so many years. I have a business, and I started seeing a lot of the stories of people with green cards and all of that facing prosecution. That definitely helped me, pushed me to get it quicker.”
The Immigration Project, based in Bloomington, is among the groups ICIRR supports. The organization provides legal service throughout central and southern Illinois. In its citizenship workshops, volunteers review participants’ necessary documents and provide legal advice to ensure they are in the best position to be successful in their citizenship application. Jessica Nichols, the workshop manager for the Immigration Project, said they’ve had to move some workshops to Zoom as people have been less willing to travel.
Whereas in the past The Immigration Project may have around 30 people participating in a citizenship workshop in-person, Nichols said those numbers have fallen.
“We have a much harder time filling our in-person workshops now as people have become more afraid to be out and about and be seen somewhere where the fact that you are physically at that location indicates something about your immigration status,” Nichols said.
A citizenship workshop planned for Beardstown in October was cancelled due to lack of registrations. Nichols said it’s likely people didn’t sign up out of fear of putting themselves at risk of being targets of an immigration arrest. Several people were assisted over the phone instead, and she said they expressed relief at the arrangement.
Another obstacle for some permanent residency holders seeking their citizenship is the cost. The USCIS establishes criteria whereby a person can apply for a fee waiver by meeting certain income criteria, but advocates say applicants are facing far more denials, creating an obstacle for working-class immigrants who want to become citizens.
USCIS has defended the changes to citizenship requirements and procedures. It stated: “The 2025 test assesses an alien’s understanding of U.S. history and government in line with the statutory requirement and is one of many steps in an ongoing effort to restore integrity to the naturalization process and meet congressional intent. Naturalization is a privilege that allows aliens to become fully vested members of American society, with important rights and responsibilities that all citizens should exercise and respect.”
Democrats will gain control of Congress in the upcoming congressional session, leaving immigrant rights groups hopeful they’ll leverage their power to bring oversight and accountability to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the naturalization process as well as immigration enforcement.
Moreno, the ICIRR manager, said despite the fears and challenges, she encourages eligible immigrants to press on.
“We are people just like anybody else, and we deserve to live a dignified life without fear,” Moreno said. “People who are eligible to naturalize should not be fearful. They should be able to take that last step and fight for this country by engaging in their community.”
She added, “We’re not going to be able to change things if we hide in fear.”
