A ceremony to grant U.S. citizenship to immigrants in Maine scheduled for next week has been canceled, a federal employee who helps manage the event said Friday.
The naturalization ceremony originally scheduled for Friday, March 14, at the U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor would have allowed people to take the Oath of Allegiance.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Office canceled the ceremony because the office is “half-staffed” and cannot support sending people to Bangor, said Cheryl Derrah, a case manager with the federal court in Bangor.
The agency’s office in Portland has had reduced staff since before December, mostly through normal attrition, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Office spokesperson said.
Those wanting to be naturalized will still be able to become citizens but they will have to travel to a different location for a ceremony, Derrah said. Ceremonies will continue to happen for Maine residents who qualify for naturalization.
The federal agency is working to find ceremony dates with the court to provide naturalization to “those in the greater Bangor area and meet the needs of northern Maine residents,” the agency spokesperson said.
A ceremony will not be added to the Portland federal courthouse calendar, a clerk said. Portland had its last ceremony on Jan. 10.
The federal court in Bangor typically has two ceremonies a year, as does the Portland federal court. There are ceremonies conducted at the immigration office, but a schedule of those ceremonies is unavailable online.
Those ceremonies are typically for about 15 people, according to the League of Women Voters of Maine. The league attends two or three ceremonies a year in the area, where they register people to vote after, said Pat Rice, who is part of the Bangor League of Women Voters.
Sixty-one people, from more than 21 countries, took the oath in August at the last ceremony in Bangor.
During that ceremony, people traveled from well outside of the area, including one person who drove from Monson.
The next naturalization ceremony in Bangor is scheduled for July 25, according to the federal court website. However, the immigration office will let the clerk know when ceremonies will resume in Bangor.