KDSN RADIO News
Iowa City couple sues after cancelation of naturalization ceremony
A University of Iowa professor and his wife are suing the Trump administration over its alleged decision to halt their progress towards gaining citizenship.
In the suit, Sunday and Regina Goshit allege their naturalization ceremony was illegally canceled after the administration announced Nigerian nationals were restricted from entering the country.
Sunday Goshit came to the U.S. 25 years ago and passed his naturalization exam last year.
Goshit says, “It creates a state of legal limbo that affects my ability to travel, my peace of mind, and the full realization of the American dream I have already spent half a life building.”
He’s an adjunct assistant professor of International Studies at the UI, where he earned his PhD and two master’s degrees.
The Goshit’s lawyers say the federal government has two months to respond to the suit.
“The impact of this delay is not merely administrative. It is deeply personal and professionally, it is stifling,” Goshit says. “To pass the test of citizenship only to have the final gates locked without legal justification is a secondary exile.”
Their naturalization ceremony was cancelled one month before it was supposed to happen. The lawsuit says the federal government told them it was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
(By James Kelley, Iowa Public Radio)
