A New Jersey town is refusing to hold a naturalization ceremony at its borough hall, claiming federal immigration officials are refusing to allow them to begin the event with a prayer.
Carteret Mayor Daniel Reiman has requested that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services relocate the Saturday ceremony. He says he was told by immigration officials that the prayer had to be removed from the ceremony's program.
A spokeswoman for the immigration agency did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.
Reiman issued a statement saying it is borough policy to open all borough events with a prayer and a moment of silence.
Reiman says the town celebrates diversity and that the prayer is non-denominational. He says the immigration service can "host its godless ceremony someplace else."
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