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To: Harlan1196; DiogenesLamp
Interesting semantics there...

Interesting context there...

Twice before, this Court has recognized that certain voluntary conduct results in an impairment of the status of citizenship. In Savorgnan v. United States, 338 U.S. 491, an American citizen had renounced her citizenship and acquired that of a foreign state. This Court affirmed her loss of citizenship, recognizing that,
From the beginning, one of the most obvious and effective forms of expatriation has been that of naturalization under the laws of another nation.

338 U.S. at 498. Mackenzie v. Hare, 239 U.S. 299, involved an American woman who had married a British national. That decision sustained an Act of Congress which provided that her citizenship was suspended for the duration of her marriage. Since it is sometimes asserted that this case is authority for the broad proposition that Congress can take away United States citizenship, it is necessary to examine precisely what the case involved.
The statute which the Court there sustained did not divest Mrs. Mackenzie of her citizenship. [n19] It provided that "any American woman who marries a foreigner shall take the nationality of her husband." [n20] "At the termination [p70] of the marital relation," the statute continues, "she may resume her American citizenship. . . ." (Emphasis added.) Her citizenship was not taken away; it was held in abeyance.
This view of the statute is borne out by its history. The 1907 Act was passed after the Department of State had responded to requests from both houses of Congress for a comprehensive study of our own and foreign nationality laws, together with recommendations for new legislation.

339 posted on 02/20/2012 5:03:10 PM PST by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Harlan1196; DiogenesLamp
19. Act of March 2, 1907, 34 Stat. 1228-1229. The full text is as follows:
SEC. 3. That any American woman who marries a foreigner shall take the nationality of her husband. At the termination of the marital relation she may resume her American citizenship, if abroad, by registering as an American citizen within one year with a consul of the United States, or by returning to reside in the United States, or, if residing in the United States at the termination of the marital relation, by continuing to reside therein.

20. This clause merely expressed the well understood principle that a wife's nationality "merged" with that of her husband's. Cockburn, Nationality, 24; 3 Moore, Digest of International Law, 450-451, 453; 3 Hackworth, Digest of International Law, 246-247. This was a consequence of the common law fiction of a unity of interest in the marital community. During coverture, the privileges and obligations of a woman's citizenship gave way to the dominance of her husband's. Prior to the Act of March 2, 1907, the Department of State declined to issue passports to American-born women who were married to aliens. 3 Moore, 454; 3 Hackworth, 247. The Attorney General ruled that a woman in such circumstances was not subject to an income tax imposed on all citizens of the United States residing abroad. 13 Op.Atty.Gen. 128. Several courts held that, during the duration of a marriage consummated prior to the Act between an American-born woman and an alien, a court may entertain a petition for her naturalization. In re Wohlgemuth, 35 F.2d 1007; In re Krausmann, 28 F.2d 1004; In re Page, 12 F.2d 135. Cf. Pequignot v. Detroit, 16 F. 211.


340 posted on 02/20/2012 5:08:31 PM PST by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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