League Outreach Curtailed at Some Naturalization Ceremonies
Mary Dierolf, Community Outreach Committee Member | Published on 9/20/2025
There has been a lot of news about the change in the USCIS regulation issued on August 29. Many reports stated that LWV and other groups are prohibited from attending all naturalization ceremonies. However, two types of naturalization ceremonies occur: one is a judicial ceremony, and the other is a simpler, administrative ceremony. USCIS has clarified that only state and local election officials will be permitted to offer voter registration services at the end of administrative naturalization ceremonies, which traditionally are held at the USCIS offices. Nongovernmental entities are not permitted to provide voter registration services at these ceremonies. Therefore, the League will no longer be allowed to participate at ceremonies conducted by USCIS officials.
Judicial ceremonies, where a federal judge administers the oath of citizenship, are not affected by the change. LWVSA as well as Leagues across the nation will continue to offer voter registration and nonpartisan information at judicial ceremonies.
Between January and August 2025, LWVSA attended 18 judicial ceremonies in San Antonio where 3207 new citizens took the oath. During the same time period, there were 6751 new citizens at administrative ceremonies. Unless we increase the number of judicial ceremonies we will not be able to offer voter materials to approximately 68% of new citizens naturalized in San Antonio.
The USCIS office would like to schedule more judicial ceremonies. They do not have funds to rent venues and must rely on donated space. LWVSA has proposed several venues that may be available. The USCIS officers appreciate our efforts and are following up on the possibilities. We have also provided the USCIS office with mail-in voter registration applications which they are allowed to distribute to the new citizens.
LWVSA has established a great working relationship with both the USCIS office and the officials at the federal courthouse. We plan to continue to offer any help that we are allowed to provide.
Photo credit: Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste. Liberty Enlightening the World. New York: Published by Root & Tinker, January 2 N.Y.: Buek & Lindner, Lith. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2006678312/>