Deconstructing naturalization ceremonies as public spectacles of citizenship

ABSTRACT

Naturalizations, unlike inaugurations and national party conventions, are one of the few daily repeated political theatre experiences, replete with monologs, dialogues, costumes, props, actors, stage managers, plural audiences, and staged practices. They serve as a public ritual to render foreigners into members. In so doing, they generate a citizen identity, reinforce the power of the state and confirm a relationship between new citizens, current citizens, and the state. In this article, through an interpretive process including participant-observation and grounded theory approaches, I question the presence, interaction, and roles of the multiple publics (immigrants, observers, civil servants, judges and non-governmental groups) in a naturalization ceremony. I present field notes and reflections from a ‘typical’ US naturalization ceremony. I deconstruct the choreography and structure of the public ritual to show what the public performance of naturalization tells us about what it means to be an American citizen. I explore what messages the state is trying to convey to naturalizing immigrants (and others) through the ritual of the naturalization ceremony. The locus of inquiry is New York City where 70,000 of the 680,000 naturalizations take place every year.

KEYWORDS:

• Naturalization ceremonies
• public rituals
• naturalization
• citizenship
• inclusion/exclusion

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all the members of the 2015 WPSA Interpretive Politics Workshop led by Sarah Marusek and Natasha Behl for the fascinating conversation that laid the initial groundwork for this piece. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewer for helpful and insightful comments. Any errors are, of course, mine.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Robin A. Harper is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at York College (CUNY).

Notes

1 Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America: ‘I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God’ (USCIS, 2014).

2 US Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: ‘I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag Of The United States Of America And To The Republic For Which It Stands, One Nation Under God, Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All’ (Federal Citizenship Information Center, 2017).

3 After the closure of Ellis Island as an immigrant reception point in 1924, it stood abandoned for decades until it was reopened as a national park and museum in 1990. (It was used from 1924–1954 to house undesirable immigrants.) The question of what to do with the space – like the immigrants traversing it --, so connected with the US immigration story of welcome and rejection (after all, the reason for the immigration review at Ellis Island was to determine fitness for entry to the United States) was a fiercely contested issue. See Maddern (2008). for an interesting discussion of the policy debate. Much the island remains undeveloped, especially the hospitals,where immigrants waited for a status determination and deported for health reasons. See Forgotten Ellis Island produced by Lorie Conway, Boston Film & Video Productions LLC (2015).

4 In the US, all males ages 18–26 regardless of immigration status must register for the military draft. The law was changed to include women in 2017.

5 US law permits noncitizens to serve in the military.

6 US election law allows US citizens and legal permanent residents to contribute to political campaigns; all other non-US citizens are prohibited.

7 Some localities allow noncitizens to vote in local elections. This is not the norm, however.