Immigrants Fought for America’s Founding Promise Because They Understood It, Not Because They Inherited It
When Justice Neil Gorsuch recently described America as a creedal nation—defined by ideas rather than bloodlines—it sparked a debate. Yet the justice is correct: the country rests on the principles of the Declaration of Independence rather than on lineage.
America’s distinctive ability to attract and integrate people from all corners of the globe has validated this view since its founding. From the Revolution onward to the present day, foreign-born individuals have taken up arms for the United States not because they shared a kinship with native-born Americans, but because they believed in the nation’s principle of individual rights and chose to defend it.
Perhaps the most famous example of a foreign-born revolutionary is Marquis de Lafayette. In his memoirs, he recounts overhearing King George III’s brother mock the ideals of the American Revolution at a 1775 dinner—and immediately resolving to learn more and join the cause. “My heart was enlisted and I thought only of joining my colors to those of the revolutionaries,” he later wrote. The Marquis sailed to these shores at age 19 and fought in many battles, including Yorktown in 1781, where he played a crucial role.
Lafayette decided to fight for America after he became enamored with the cause of independence. In 1778, he wrote: “The moment I heard of America I loved her; the moment I knew she was fighting for freedom I burnt with a desire to bleed for her; and the moment I shall be able to serve her, at any time, or in any part of the world, will be the happiest of my life.”
He wasn’t the only foreigner who felt this deep reverence for the United States, even without any prior connection.
Baron von Steuben, a Prussian-born military officer, is regarded as one of the fathers of the United States Army. Recruited by Benjamin Franklin, the veteran officer joined the Continental Army to professionalize its ranks. Appointed temporary inspector general and alarmed by the army’s condition, von Steuben devised a training regimen that dramatically enhanced American fighting capabilities. His work was instrumental in securing victory, and the regulations he developed guided military practice well into 1814.
Although he did not share a language with the Americans, von Steuben shared their devotion to liberty. “The honor of serving a respectable Nation, engaged in the noble enterprise of defending its rights and Liberty, is the only motive that brought me over to this Continent,” he wrote to Congress in 1777. To George Washington, he wrote: “The object of my greatest ambition is to render your Country all the Services in my Power, and to deserve the title of a Citizen of America by fighting for the Cause of your Liberty.” He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1784.
Polish-born Casimir Pulaski didn’t receive similar honors, as he died during the Siege of Savannah at age 34. Pulaski’s own words reveal his motive for joining the Revolutionary cause: “I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it,” he wrote to George Washington.
Drafted for his military prowess and commitment to liberty, Pulaski eventually commanded the Pulaski Legion, a cavalry unit comprising American and foreign recruits. Like von Steuben, Pulaski did not speak English, yet he earned the titles “Father of the American Cavalry” and “Soldier of Liberty” for his steadfast service to this country.
The pattern of foreigners defending America did not end with the Revolutionary War. Immigrants have fought in every subsequent conflict and continue to do so today—even in wars that, at times, have little to do with the ideals they enlisted to defend, and even as the government contemplates deporting some of them. According to a recent congressional report, roughly 50,000 non-U.S. citizens were serving in the Armed Forces as of February 2026, and there are about 125,000 non-citizen veterans who have previously served on active duty living in the United States. (This figure excludes foreign-born veterans who later became citizens.)
Among those who served is Alfredo Rascon Velasquez, a Mexican-born veteran who initially entered the country illegally and earned the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. He eventually became a U.S. citizen. “I was always an American in my heart,” he said when asked why he volunteered to join and go to Vietnam before he was even a citizen. He describes himself as “Mexican by birth, American by choice.”
A common thread in all these cases is a direct, deliberate admiration for American values, not sacrifice or blind loyalty to an inherited cause. These individuals understood that they stood to gain something by fighting for the country they preferred to live in, recognizing that America’s revolutionary principle of individual rights enabled the freedoms they sought. Their Americanism and commitment arise from grasping these principles, not from ethnicity or tribal obligation.
America is, as Gorsuch asserted, a nation founded on the ideas of the Declaration of Independence, and these ideas have drawn millions to its shores for 250 years. The foreign-born men and women honored on Memorial Day made a choice that many immigrants continue to make every day: to embrace a country defined by individual rights rather than by bloodlines.
This column was first published in the Orange County Register.
