'Your appointment's rescheduled': Shutdown cancels US citizenship ceremonies

When I went this weekend to take the oath to become an American citizen, I enountered disorder, and disappointment.

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We clutched our naturalisation notices as we filed through security and lined up at the check-in desk. Soon, we would raise our right hands and swear the Oath of Allegiance to the United States in a ceremony that is known as both solemn and celebratory. Carrying small American flags, we would walk out citizens.

But then, abruptly, we learned the ceremony had been cancelled because of the government shutdown.

"You should have been notified," said the staff member at the desk.

None of us had received any emails or phone calls. The staff at the entrance had let us in without warning, raising the possibility that they too had not been notified.