It is so deeply disheartening to learn that dozens of hopeful immigrants — people who had completed every requirement, passed every background check, studied our history more carefully than most native born Americans and showed up ready to pledge allegiance — were denied the final step of becoming U.S. citizens yesterday at a ceremony in Indianapolis.
Reading this news hits close to home. Not long ago, we stood in that same spirit of celebration as several of our candle-makers who had fled persecution and found refuge first in a refugee camp and later here in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, raised their right hands to embrace a new future as Americans. That moment was filled with pride, hope and the strong sense that their dreams of belonging and contributing had been recognized.
To know there are similar families now turned away after years of perseverance feels like a betrayal of what citizenship ceremonies are meant to be. For individuals who believed they’d earned the right to call America home, this last-minute denial isn’t just bureaucratic. It’s deeply personal. It sends a message that some dreams — the dreams of people seeking safety, a fresh start, a sense of belonging — matter less depending on where one comes from.
Moreover, the pain doesn’t end at denial. The uncertainty that follows is agonizing… not knowing if or when their status will be restored, or even if they might now be deported to who-knows-where. For immigrants who have built lives here, raised children, contributed to communities, paid their taxes and hoped to fully belong, having that future taken away at the threshold is devastating.
If these stories tell us anything, it is this: we must stand firmly against this administration’s cruel, race-based approach to immigration and refugee status. We must reaffirm that citizenship isn’t just a privilege for some (like Afrikaners). It’s a hard-earned hope that deserves dignity, transparency and fairness.
Photo: a Prosperity Candle artisan at her citizenship ceremony
