“…one nation under God, indivisible…”
Can you pledge allegiance to the flags of two nations and still be a loyal U.S. citizen?
WNBA player Becky Hammon takes Russian citizenship so she can play on the Russian national women’s basketball team in the 2008 Olympics.
A Latin America-born business traveler with triple citizenship renews his soon-to-expire Venezuelan passport so he can enter that country without experiencing “anti-American” animosity.
A U.S.-born teenager becomes a Mexican citizen through her Mexico-born father; she’s driven by cultural pride and solidarity with her relatives in Guadalajara.
While the United States doesn’t encourage dual citizenship, no U.S. law prohibits it.
“Dual citizenship is a worldwide phenomenon, but it is overwhelmingly an American issue, because most of the world's immigrants come here,” states national security writer Jack Kelly in “Number of dual citizens in U.S. soaring” in the May 15, 2002, issue of the Pittsburg Post-Gazette.
Despite what some immigrants believe, you don’t have to stomp on your birth country’s flag while raising your right hand to swear allegiance to the United States. Nor do you lose your U.S. citizenship if you apply for foreign citizenship – unless you do so “with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship.”
Each country has its own, often complicated, laws governing dual citizenship; some permit it, some do not.
For example, being born in the U.S. qualifies a newborn for citizenship, whether his or her parents are in the U.S. legally or not – to the irritation of anti-immigration groups.
Foreign-born candidates at emotion-laden naturalization ceremonies wave flags while family members flash cameras and cheer. Then the brand-new citizens, who have fulfilled residency and civics-knowledge requirements, head to voter registration tables to ensure their ability to exercise a right perhaps denied in the their birth country.
The “how” part of dual citizenship can be complex; some may view the “why” as a patriotic affront. Why would an adult U.S. citizen purposefully seek citizenship of a foreign country?
Deep-seated dissatisfaction for the “American” way of life more than likely is not the principal impetus. Instead, the reasons are more mundane: a career move, wanting to preserve a link to a parent’s culture, being able to cross the border into the “second country” without hassle, nurturing a dream of owning land and retiring in Mexico – for example.
Watch out, though, for the downside to dual citizenship. Citizens of two countries are required to obey two sets of laws, including tax regulations. You might have to suit up for military service in both countries. Some “dual citizens” have done foreign military service without repercussion; however, U.S. citizens who have engaged in military actions against the U.S. (e.g., Yaser Esam Hamdi) quite likely will require legal assistance.
Family, friends and coworkers may be dismayed at your decision to adopt another country as your own. That job you always wanted with the government agency? The federal recruiter may wonder where your allegiance lies.
Newly minted U.S. citizens express their allegiance with the fervor of converts. An April 18 article in the San Antonio Express-News quotes new U.S. citizen Terah Omido Isiahiliza, from Kenya: "With your American citizenship comes benefits (sic) as well as responsibilities. An ideal citizen votes regularly. An ideal citizen gives back to his or her community, and an ideal citizen breathes life into the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the founding principles of our nation."
For those who possess dual citizenship and who respect and love both countries, the final words of the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. flag may be the most meaningful: "with liberty and justice for all."
Harlon Reece is running for mayor of Herndon, Virginia. He is running against Herndon's immigration opponents and he's not your typical candidate.
See his YouTube video.
As a person with dual citizenship, I am proud to have been born in Mexico and proud to have become a U.S. citizen as well. I feel it is my privilege and my responsibility to vote.
Well written and well said. As a natural born citizen, I am proud to be an American and know this country is great because of immigration. We are a nation of immigrants who helped to build our cities and fought and died for our freedoms.
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