Sponsors
The bill strengthens and enforces individual rights for approved naturalization applicants to promptly receive citizenship, while shifting additional administrative, legal, and potential security-management burdens onto DHS, federal staff, and taxpayers.
Immigrants approved for naturalization gain a clear, enforceable right to attend ceremonies, take the oath, and receive citizenship without arbitrary delays, with judicial review and mandamus relief available if officials wrongfully deny or delay issuance.
Immigrants who prevail in challenges against delays or wrongful denials can recover attorneys' fees and must be rescheduled promptly, lowering legal-cost barriers and speeding the practical receipt of citizenship for successful plaintiffs.
DHS and federal staff must spend additional time on individualized findings, notices, supervisory reviews, and litigation response, increasing administrative workload and operational burdens on federal employees.
Taxpayers may face higher legal costs because the bill could spur more litigation against DHS and increase fee-shifting awards, raising government legal expenditures.
DHS's reduced ability to rely on categorical reviews and internal directives could limit agency flexibility to pause or manage ceremonies for group-level security concerns, potentially raising national security risks in situations where patterns of risk exist across applicants.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a statutory right for approved naturalization applicants to attend scheduled oath ceremonies and receive certificates, limits categorical delays, and creates judicial review and remedies.
Introduced December 18, 2025 by Edward John Markey · Last progress December 18, 2025
Creates a statutory right for applicants whose naturalization applications have been approved to appear at a scheduled naturalization ceremony, take the oath of allegiance, and receive a certificate of naturalization, with only narrow, time-limited exceptions. It bars exclusions or delays based on nationality or broad internal policies, allows a one-time emergency postponement (up to 30 days) for individualized national-security threats with 72-hour notice, and requires agencies to publish any ceremony-related policies in the Federal Register. Gives applicants judicial remedies if denied or postponed: those actions are final agency actions reviewable in court under the Administrative Procedure Act and the immigration judicial review provision, unlawful withholding can be sought via mandamus, prevailing applicants may recover attorneys’ fees, and courts can order rescheduling (to occur within 10 days of an order). The bill also prevents agencies from eliminating these rights by regulation or internal directive and updates the table of contents for the relevant statute.