FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 26, 2026
CONTACT: Rachel Dupree, [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the heels of President Trump’s State of the Union address, in which he named his support for legal immigration, the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is sounding the alarm on his administration’s intensified efforts to eliminate legal immigration pathways and due process in immigration proceedings.
According to reports from members of NPNA—a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 72 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations—widespread denials, delays, and disruptions now plague the naturalization process. These reports indicate that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will no longer conduct naturalization interviews for the remainder of 2026. This will not only create a naturalization backlog and strand people in life-altering legal limbo, but also limit the civic participation of those who are in the very final steps of naturalization ahead of mid-term elections.
These reports and findings come amid an enforcement surge targeting already settled and thoroughly vetted refugee communities, a 75-country migration ban disproportionately affecting Black, brown, and Muslim nations, and a new quota for denaturalization cases—up from an average of just 11 denaturalization cases per year to nearly 200 cases per month.
Said Nicole Melaku, NPNA executive director, “One of our most democratic and patriotic acts—becoming a U.S. citizen through naturalization—is now being used as a weapon of the mass deportation machine and voter suppression tactic. Through consistent denials, disruptions, and violence against documented and long-settled refugees, the Trump Administration is turning legal immigration pathways into traps, funneling individuals and families into detention and deportation. All of these quiet and loud attacks, alongside the GOP’s proposed voter suppression legislation, are systematically designed to stifle the immigrant vote.
“In a consequential midterm election year, we do not think targeting America’s highly motivated, naturalized voting population is a coincidence—it is another act of voter suppression. On behalf of our membership and our communities, we want to reassert that our democracy is for everyone. All people should be supported through the migration process, integration into our nation’s civic process, and the opportunities that lead to a prosperous future. It is the job of Congress to prioritize legislative solutions that protect people’s voting rights and access to citizenship.”
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The National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) is a multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition of over 70 of the nation’s largest immigrant and refugee rights organizations with reach across over 42 states. Together with our members, we advance immigrant and refugee equity and inclusion, build and expand immigration legal services and integration programming capacity, and drive campaigns that strengthen democracy through increased civic participation. See our website for more information at partnershipfornewamericans.org.