The Oath She Had Been Practicing for Years

Maria Delgado stood in the federal courthouse in downtown San Antonio on a Tuesday morning in March, her hands trembling around a small American flag. Around her, 47 other immigrants from 22 countries rose to their feet. The judge asked them to raise their right hands. She had memorized the oath of allegiance weeks ago, repeating it while folding laundry, whispering it on the bus to her night shift at the hospital.…