History Main / ImmigrantPatriotism

* ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' is well-known for the number "America", where Anita and the other Puerto Rican women sing about their love of America because they can make better lives and have more freedom than they could in their own country. Young Maria, likewise, though not in that number, is eager to be American and have more freedoms. Subverted by the Puerto Rican men, particularly in the film versions, who are already jaded by their experiences and the racial hatred they face. [[spoiler: Anita also becomes jaded after she is harassed and nearly assaulted by the white Polish-American Jets.]]

--> '''Batman:''' 'Cause it's America\\

And in America\\
I do what I like.''

* ''Theatre/WestSideStory'' is well-known for the number "America", where Anita and the other Puerto Rican women sing about their love of America because they can make better lives and have more freedom than they could in their own country. Young Maria, likewise, though not in that number, is eager to be American and shake free from the constraints of her brother's Puerto Rican customs. Subverted by the Puerto Rican men, particularly in the film version, who are already jaded by their experiences and the racial hatred they face. [[spoiler: Anita also becomes jaded after she is harassed and nearly assaulted by the white Polish-American Jets.]]

* Recurring character Esteban in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' is an immigrant from Peru who works as a bellboy at the Tipton Hotel in Boston. In "Boston Tea Party", Esteban is enthusiastic to take his citizenship test and become an American citizen, and proves to know more about his adopted country than London Tipton, a born American citizen (though to be fair, London is also TheDitz, so not maybe not the best comparison).

* Recurring character Esteban in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' is an immigrant from Peru who works as a bellboy at the Tipton Hotel in Boston. In "Boston Tea Party", Esteban is enthusiastic to take his citizenship test and become an American citizen, and proves to know more about his adopted country than London, a born American citizen.

** "Truth, justice, and the American way." Despite not even being from ''Earth''. It doesn't hurt that Krypton is often shown as having at least as many social problems as Earth before it exploded. He spends much of the ''ComicBook/NewKrypton'' storyline wrestling with this.

* Goku develops this after learning he's an alien in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. He's horrified that he comes from a race of planet-stripping mercenaries, but comes around after hearing how Freeza manipulated them. He nonetheless refers to himself as "a Saiyan raised on Planet Earth", and fights Cell in his classic outfit rather than Saiyan armor to better represent the world he's saving.

** In contast, Ledonia Kisaka from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' is a North African officer in ORB military and a bodyguard to Cagalli.

** "Truth, justice, and the American way." Despite not even being from ''Earth''. It doesn't hurt that Krypton is often shown as having at least as many social problems as Earth before it exploded. He spends much of the ''ComicBook/NewKrypton'' story line wrestling with this.

'''Gust:''' My loyalty! For twenty four years people have been trying to kill me! People who know how. Now do you think that's because my dad was a Greek soda pop maker? Or do you think that's because I'm an American spy?
* ''Film/FinalScore1986'': The protagonist, Richard, is an American ex-Vietnam vet who married an Indonesian woman, and chose to stay in Jakarta and raise a family there. Partway through the film, there's a scene where his American-Indonesian son asking him why he chose not to go back to the States, only for Richard to express how much he loved Indonesia and never missed life in the States at all. Of course, the fact that the film is produced by an Indonesian company might be a factor...

* Juror #11 in ''Film/TwelveAngryMen'' adores America's jury system and democratic government, implying that wherever he's from doesn't have either, and gets severely offended when Juror #7 just doesn't care and changes his vote purely out of boredom with the proceedings.

* In ''Film/CadillacMan'' an immigrant couple who have made good in America protest at the very idea of buying a non-American car (OK,it was in 1990).

* Lord Varys, the [[TheSpymaster Master of Whispers]] in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' / ''Series/GameOfThrones''. He is [[EunuchsAreEvil a eunuch]] from the eastern Free City of Lys, and the only man on the Small Council who professes loyalty to the kingdom itself, rather than to family, money, or power. That said, as the series continues and more about Varys is revealed it becomes more ambiguous what Varys means by loyalty to the Kingdom. [[spoiler:At the end of "A Dance with Dragons" he murders two competent members of the Small Council to plunge the realm into chaos when [[HiddenBackupPrince "Aegon Targaryen"]] arrives in the Seven Kingdoms to seize control, which was apparently Varys long-term plan. Its widely believed by the fandom Varys is a Blackfyre loyalist (or perhaps even a Blackfyre descendant) who was sowing trouble in Westeros to aid a Blackfyre takeover, and Aegon is the Blackfyre claimant.]]
** The Manderlys are one of the main Northern Houses, but were originally a Reach House that was driven out centuries ago, they were allowed to settle in the North by its rulers the Starks, in exchange for swearing an oath of loyalty to the Starks. As a result the Manderlys, though still retaining Southron culture such as worship of the Seven in an area that mainly worships the Old Gods, are fiercely loyal to the Starks and North. Their current lord Wyman Manderly [[spoiler:[[LaResistance is secretly plotting]] to [[RightfulKingReturns restore the Starks]] after they are usurped by the treacherous Boltons.]]

* Several characters in ''Literature/WarriorCats'' were born kittypets but [[APetIntoTheWild ran off to join Clans]] later in life. Most of them do their best to intergrate into Clan life and avoid FantasticRacism, even going as far as to ''join in'' on anti-kittypet bias.

* During a late season episode of ''Series/LawAndOrder'', a young Muslim immigrant helps police stop a Muslim terrorist cell planning a terrorist attack, because he loves America and believes in the American Dream. However, when he testifies in court, he lies for the suspected terrorists, because they had information about him that could get him deported for a crime he committed in the past, before he legally became a US citizen. In the end, he still testifies against them, knowing he might get deported because he believes its the right thing to do for the country he loves. [[spoiler: The episode ends with prosecuting attorney, Michael Cutter, looking over a loophole case file he can use to keep him from being deported.]]

* ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver'': Oliver is unabashed about being English (to the point of being a RunningGag), but he firmly identifies himself with his American audience and (both on air and in his personal life) has made it unstintingly clear that he intends to be naturalized, to spend the rest of his life in America, and that he basically considers himself already American. Whenever the US does something good, he clearly shows his pride; whenever he covers the US doing something awful (which, given that the show specializes in investigative journalism on serious problems, is fairly often), he exhibits the same embarrassment and shame that someone born in the US would. It probably helps that he married an American woman, Kate Norley, who happens to be a veteran of the Iraq War.

* Kazushige Nozawa achieved far more fame and success in Mexico than Japan, and he showed his appreciation while co promoting shows with Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling in 2007 by forming a stable of like minded appreciates called "Los Mexico Amigos", each one taking up a Spanish name(Wrestling/TAKAMichinoku-PEPE Michinoku, Kaz Hayashi-Miguel Hayashi Jr, Nobutaka Araya-El Hijo del Araya Segundo) and [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead wearing the Mexican flag on their gear]]. Eventually Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki(Ray Suzuki) entered the group for the purpose of kidnapping NOSAWA and putting an end to it(which could be interpreted as TheMole but more commonly was seen as GetAHoldOfYourselfMan)

* Shigeo Okumura entered Wrestling/{{CMLL}} as part of an anti Mexican unit and quickly became TheFace of said unit, sticking around far longer than every other member in his efforts to prove Mexican inferiority. So long in fact that if seen without his ring gear he basically blends in with the Chilango community. After a HeelFaceTurn CMLL used him to represent their company or Mexico in general in promotions such as UIPW and Wrestling/RingOfHonor (on announcing his departure to the latter on ''Rudo Vision'' he stat in front of a sign that read "¡Viva Mexico!").

* Roman Bellic from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. He cut practically all his ties to his native Serbia, and instead spends his time convincing his cousin Niko of the great opportunities awaiting them in America.

* WordOfGod is that the very cowboy-inspired Clay from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' was inspired by Japanese men who move to America. He is Kanto born but moved to Unova as an adult.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': The Nguyen family are Vietnamese immigrants who've culturally assimilated as American (specifically [[HollywoodNewEngland Bostonians]]) so hard they've ''[[ObliviousToHisOwnDescription literally]]'' forgotten they're immigrants, and are even [[BoomerangBigot prejudiced against other immigrants]]. Pa is literally a lecturer of Vietnamese history, but is so dedicated to his Boston identity that he refuses to teach his children anything about their heritage even when asked.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "A Taste of Freedom" starts on Freedom Day, which is the Fourth of July for the entire planet. Zoidberg eats a flag, which he meant to be a demonstration of the liberties Earth allows, but gets put on trial for it. He winds up starting a war between Earth and his home planet of Decapod 10, and in the end picks Earth over the Decapodians because of the death of his human lawyer, one of the ''very'' few humans who was willing to stand up for him.

--> "You couldn't do it. That stretch between [[UsefulNotes/JamesKPolk Polk]] and [[UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan Buchanan]][[note]]If you're curious: [[UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor Taylor]], [[UsefulNotes/MillardFillmore Fillmore]], [[UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce Pierce]].[[/note]] wipe you out. You ever heard of [[UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield Garfield]]? He more than [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} a cartoon cat]], you know. He part of history of ''my'' country."

-->'''Homer:''' When will people learn--''democracy doesn't work!!''\\

** Shalikashvili was ethnically Georgian--i.e., from a country part of the Soviet Union at the time of his birth (his parents were nobility exiled from the country by UsefulNotes/RedOctober). He eventually became the chief military commander of UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} shortly after TheGreatPoliticsMessUp, and was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--the highest-ranking member of the US military--from 1993 to 1997.

** Depending on perspective, this might be applicable to a long list of Soviet military leaders before and after the Second World War: no less than three highly decorated Marshals and one Admiral of the Fleet came from Armenia alone. However, the simple fact of not being an ethnic Russian would not necessarily label someone an genuine "immigrant" in the Soviet Union, itself an amalgamation of more than a dozen nationalities.

* The late Creator/ChristopherHitchens was an English immigrant to America, and was very fond of the founding principles of the nation, most notably freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

* The Australian Political System zig zags this trope. Unlike in the US, one has to have only Australian citizenship to run for public office, meaning that even the highest political office have always been available to naturalised citizens. However, most of said naturalised citizens in high political office were born in the UK.

* Let us not forget Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh! He was born a Greek[[note]]and Danish, as the Greek royal house was a junior line of the Danish. (Indeed, by the Danish laws in place right before Philip's family took the Greek throne, the senior line of Philip's branch would be kings of Denmark right now. However, an 1863 treaty and 1953 Danish statute removed Philip's family's claim to the Danish throne.)[[/note]] prince, but was largely raised in the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom by his mother's relatives, the Mountbattens. In fact, he considered himself British so much that he actually renounced his Greek citizenship, royal titles and even his membership in the [[UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity Greek Orthodox Church]]. Part of that had to do with the fact that his bride was, at the time, Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth, but one gets the sense that he was happy to be rid of his foreign titles for the chance to be a fully British nobleman. Even to his death, the Duke considered himself British.
** Philip was largely following in the footsteps of the Mountbattens and particularly his maternal grandfather, Louis Mountbatten. Born Prince Ludwig von Battenberg in Vienna to a morganatic junior line of the sovereign ducal house of Hesse, Louis was raised in Germany and Italy. Despite that, he decided to join the British Royal Navy at the age of 14, and proudly identified himself with Britain. He rose through the ranks despite considerable opposition based both on his foreign-born status and his royal ancestry (there being a perception at the time that too many princes were embarking on military/naval careers, crowding out the other gentlemen trying to rise through the ranks). When World War I hit, he renounced his German princely status and proclaimed himself "Louis Mountbatten" ("Mountbatten" being a part-translation of "Battenberg"). The King (Louis' cousin by marriage), in consultation with the Government, gave Louis a marquessate in the Peerage of the United Kingdom as compensation. The King actually wanted to make his cousin a duke, as befitted a man of Louis' royal ancestry and steadfast service to Britain, but Louis—who had little usable property in the UK—was living primarily off his naval salary and asked to be a lower ranked peer so he could avoid the great expense of living in the manner expected of a duke. The King obliged, but insisted on giving Louis the highest possible non-ducal peerage out of respect for the man's ancestry, devotion to Britain, and service in the Navy.
* During World War II, Sicilian-born mobster Charles "Lucky" Luciano aided the US government the complete assistance of his organization in fighting German and Italian spies, and was crushed when his crimes led to him being deported back to Sicily after the war ended.

* In ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire'', the character Artemisia rejected her Greek roots after her family was murdered by hoplites and she was sold to slavery as a little girl. She found and rescued by a Persian official, who took pity on her and raised her as his own daughter, eventually growing into a ruthless warrior that embraced Persia as her new home.

-->''My country tis of thee / Sweet land of liberty / Of thee I sing / Today!''

* ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire'': Artemisia rejects her Greek roots after her family is murdered by hoplites and she is sold to slavery as a little girl, only to be found and rescued by a Persian official, who took pity on her and raised her as his own daughter. She grew into a ruthless warrior that embraced Persia as her new home.

** Philip was largely following in the footsteps of the Mountbattens and particularly his maternal grandfather, Louis Mountbatten. Born Prince Ludwig von Battenberg in Vienna to a morganatic junior line of the sovereign ducal house of Hesse, Louis was raised in Germany and Italy. Despite that, he decided to join the British Royal Navy at the age of 14, and proudly identified himself with Britain. He rose through the ranks despite considerable opposition based both on his foreign-born status and his royal ancestry (there being a perception at the time that too many princes were embarking on military/naval careers). When World War I hit, he renounced his German princely status and proclaimed himself "Louis Mountbatten" ("Mountbatten" being a part-translation of "Battenberg"). The King (Louis' cousin by marriage), in consultation with the Government, gave Louis a marquessate in the Peerage of the United Kingdom as compensation. The King actually wanted to make his cousin a duke, as befitted a man of Louis' royal ancestry and steadfast service to Britain, but Louis—who had little usable property in the UK—was living primarily off his naval salary and asked to be a lower ranked peer so he could avoid the great expense of living in the manner expected of a duke. The King obliged, but insisted on giving Louis the highest possible non-ducal peerage out of respect for the man's ancestry, devotion to Britain, and service in the Navy.

** Although Geert Wilders -- said to be Europe's most anti-Islam politician -- was born in the Southern Netherlands, his mother's side of the family came from Indonesia... now and then the country with the most Muslims in the world. And his anti-Islam ideology may be because of that very fact, because his mother's family were [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo_people indos]], the mixed Dutch-Indonesian ethnicity who were the local elite.

* Let us not forget Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh! He was born a Greek[[note]]and Danish, as the Greek royal house was a junior line of the Danish. (Indeed, by the Danish laws in place right before Philip's family took the Greek throne, the senior line of Philip's branch would be kings of Denmark right now. However, an 1863 treaty and 1953 Danish statute removed Philip's family's claim to the Danish throne.)[[/note]] prince, but was largely raised in the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom by his mother's relatives, the Mountbattens. In fact, he considered himself British so much that he actually renounced his Greek citizenship, royal titles and even his membership in the [[UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity Greek Orthodox Church]]. Part of that had to do with the fact that his bride was, at the time, Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth, but one gets the sense that he was happy to be rid of his foreign titles for the chance to be a fully British nobleman. Even to this day, the Duke considers himself British.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "A Taste of Freedom" starts on Freedom Day, which is the Fourth of July for the entire planet. Zoidberg eats a flag, which he meant to be a demonstration of the liberties Earth allows, but gets put on trial for it. He winds up starting a war between Earth and his home planet of Decapod 10, and in the end picks Earth over the Decapodians because of the death of his lawyer.

* Creator/TommyWiseau is a Polish immigrant who goes out of his way to deny his heritage and fully embraces America. It took a lawsuit for him to reveal his actual background.

* The landlady who tips the Secret Service off to the would-be Presidential assassin's plan in ''Film/InTheLineOfFire'' shows signs of this, declaring, "Thirty years I'm in this country. I ''love'' United States. Only in America can you get to go to President's house. So when I see this, these killing things (the numerous paraphernalia indicating the man's dastardly plan) I get scared. I call police." It's not clear where she's from originally, but her accent is vaguely Eastern European, and her age would indicate that she grew up during a severely repressive Communist regime.

* Go to south Florida around the Fourth of July sometime. Many of the Cuban immigrants who live there are some of the most fiercely patriotic Americans you'll ever meet. It's not an exaggeration to say that a lot of Cuban Americans ''love'' their new home country and HATE UsefulNotes/FidelCastro and anything related to Communism.

* Practically any of the original Zionists. That was after all kind of the point. Even today, new ''olim'' (immigrants) frequently [[MeaningfulNameChange change their names to a Hebrew equivalent]] when they receive citizenship and are among the most enthusiastic flag wavers on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day).

* Practically any of the original Zionists. That was after all kind of the point.

* Kazushige Nozawa achieved far more fame and success in Mexico than Japan, and he showed his appreciation while co promoting shows with Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling in 2007 by forming a stable of like minded appreciates called "Los Mexico Amigos", each one taking up a Spanish name(Wrestling/TAKAMichinoku-PEPE Michinoku, Kaz Hayashi-Miguel Hayashi Jr, Nobutaka Araya-El Hijo del Araya Segundo) and [[WearingAFlagOnYourHead wearing the Mexican flag on their gear]]. Eventually Wrestling/MinoruSuzuki(Ray Suzuki) entered the group for the purpose of kidnapping NOSAWA and putting an end to it(which could be interpreted as either TheMole or ReverseMole but more commonly was seen as GetAHoldOfYourselfMan)

* Let us not forget Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh! He was born a Greek[[note]]and Danish, due to his father descending from the Danish Royal Family[[/note]] prince, but was largely raised in the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom by his mother's relatives, the Mountbattens. In fact, he considered himself British so much that he actually renounced his Greek citizenship, royal titles and even his membership in the [[UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity Greek Orthodox Church]]. Part of that had to do with the fact that his bride was, at the time, Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth, but one gets the sense that he was happy to be rid of his foreign titles for the chance to be a fully British nobleman. Even to this day, the Duke considers himself British.

* Let us not forget Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh! He was born a Greek[[note]]and Danish, due to his father descending from the Danish Royal Family[[/note]] prince, but was largely raised in the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom by his mother's relatives, the Mountbattens. In fact, he considered himself British so much that he actually renounced his Greek citizenship, royal titles and even his membership in the [[UsefulNotes/OrthodoxChristianity Greek Orthodox Church]]. Part of that had to do with the fact that his bride was, at the time, Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth. Even to this day, the Duke considers himself British.