New Citizens Pledge American Allegiance at Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon hosts its sixth annual U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Ceremony on Monday, May 22, 2006. The ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. on the east lawn of George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate with performances by the United States Marine Band and National Men's Chorus. The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association co-host the ceremony as America's 100 newest citizens from countries all across the world, pre-selected by the USCIS, pledge to "uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America."

Open to the public with Mount Vernon admission, all visitors are invited to witness these citizens who by choice will take the name “American” in the country Washington envisioned as “an Asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and religions” and in front of the home he so dearly loved.