Published August 3, 2026
When taking the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance, immigrants make a solemn vow to “renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which [they] have heretofore been a subject or citizen.”
On its face, this is usually taken to mean that the immigrant will not commit treason. However, renouncing fidelity to whom, and what, one was subject to before, and espousing — as the oath goes on to say — faith and allegiance to the United States and its Constitution, means a change in mind and heart, not just outward action.
What is that change of heart and mind but assimilation to the adoptive country, its culture, and its peoplehood? At the core of this assimilation is the rejection of foreign thinking and culture that pose a threat to the oath-taking and covenant-making. That is, when one takes that oath, one is swearing that the culture and religion they came in with will amend itself to that oath.
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Luma Simms is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Mrs. Simms is writer and thinker on American culture, religion, politics, political theology, immigration and immigration-adjacent issues. Her primary focus has been the critique of modern America through an immigrant lens.
