Honorary citizenship of the United States explained

A person of exceptional merit, a non-United States citizen, may be declared an honorary citizen of the United States by an Act of Congress or by a proclamation issued by the president of the United States, pursuant to authorization granted by Congress.

Eight people have been so honored, six posthumously, and two, Sir Winston Churchill and Saint Teresa of Calcutta, during their lifetimes. For Lafayette and Mother Teresa, the honor was proclaimed directly by an Act of Congress. In the other cases, an Act of Congress was passed authorizing the President to grant honorary citizenship by proclamation.What rights and privileges honorary citizenship bestows, if any, is unclear. According to State Department documents, it does not grant eligibility for United States passports.[1]

Despite widespread belief that Lafayette received honorary citizenship of the United States before Churchill,[2] he did not receive honorary citizenship until 2002. Lafayette did become a natural-born citizen during his lifetime. On December 28, 1784, the Maryland General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Lafayette and his male heirs "forever shall be...natural born Citizens" of the state.[3] This made him a natural-born citizen of the United States under the Articles of Confederation and as defined in Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution.[4] [5] [6] [7]

Lafayette boasted in 1792 that he had become an American citizen before the French Revolution created the concept of French citizenship.[8] In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson wrote that he would have offered to make Lafayette governor of Louisiana, had he been "on the spot".[9] In 1932, descendant René de Chambrun established his American citizenship based on the Maryland resolution,[10] [11] although he was probably ineligible for the distinction, as the inherited citizenship was likely only intended for direct descendants who were heir to Lafayette's estate and title.[12] The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in 1955 that "it is possible to argue" that Lafayette and living male heirs became American citizens when the Constitution became effective on March 4, 1789, but that heirs born later were not U.S. citizens.[13]

Honorary citizenship should not be confused with citizenship or permanent residency bestowed by a private bill. Private bills are, on rare occasions, used to provide relief to individuals, often in immigration cases, and are also passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. One such statute, granting Elián González U.S. citizenship, was suggested in 1999 but never enacted.[14]

Recipients

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NameImageDateNationalityNote
1Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, notably during World War II.[15]
2
Swedish diplomat who rescued Jews in Hungary from the Holocaust.[16]
3, 4
Founder of the Province of Pennsylvania.[17] [18]
Administrator of the Province of Pennsylvania, second wife of William Penn.
5Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.[19] [20]
6
A Frenchman who was an officer in the American Revolutionary War.[21]
7
Polish military officer who saved the life of George Washington, and fought and died for the United States against the British during the American Revolutionary War; notable politician and member of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth nobility, American brigadier general who has been called "The Father of the American Cavalry" and died during the Siege of Savannah. Remembered as a national hero both in Poland and in the United States.[22] [23] [24] [25]
8
A Spanish officer and colonial governor who was a hero of the American Revolutionary War, risking his life for the freedom of United States citizens; provided supplies, intelligence, and strong military support to the war effort; was wounded during the Siege of Pensacola, demonstrating bravery that forever endeared him to the United States soldiers.[26] [27]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 8 FAM 306.1: Honorary Citizenship. Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 8. U.S. Department of State. July 18, 2018. June 27, 2018.
  2. News: Sir Winston May Get U.S. Citizenship . Sarasota Journal . March 11, 1963 . UPI . February 25, 2016 . 5.
  3. Lafayette again became an honorary citizen of Maryland in 1823, as well as of Connecticut the same year.
  4. News: Speare. Morris Edmund. Lafayette, Citizen of America. February 2, 2011. The New York Times. September 7, 1919.
  5. News: Folliard. Edward T.. JFK Slipped on Historical Data In Churchill Tribute. February 2, 2011. Sarasota Journal. May 25, 1973.
  6. News: Cornell. Douglas B.. Churchill Acceptance 'Honors Us Far More'. February 2, 2011. The Sumter Daily Item. April 10, 1963.
  7. Plumpton. John. A Son of America Though a Subject of Britain. Finest Hour. Summer 1988. 60. The Churchill Centre.
  8. Web site: Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds . Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds. Cornell University Library. September 29, 2012. 2006.
  9. Web site: Lafayette's Triumphal Tour: America, 1824–1825. Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds. Cornell University Library. February 2, 2011. 2006.
  10. News: Letters. https://web.archive.org/web/20110917032547/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,772450-3,00.html. dead. September 17, 2011. February 2, 2011. TIME. December 2, 1940.
  11. News: Rogister . John . Obituaries: René de Chambrun . February 2, 2011 . . August 17, 2002 . unfit . https://web.archive.org/web/20100101151641/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/reneacute-de-chambrun-640100.html . January 1, 2010 .
  12. Book: Lafayette Between the American and the French Revolution (1783–1789) . University of Chicago Press . Gottschalk, Louis Reichenthal . 1950 . 435–436.
  13. IN THE MATTER OF M. 6. IN. Dec. 749. B.I.A.. 1955. https://casetext.com/case/in-the-matter-of-m-22 . We need not consider the precise effect of the Maryland act of 1784 upon the political status of Lafayette and such of his male heirs as had been born prior to the date when the Constitution of the United States became effective (March 4, 1789). It is possible to argue that they were citizens of Maryland and under Section 2 of Article IV of the United States Constitution should be considered citizens of the United States. However, we hold that when Congress by legislation set forth the requirements for citizenship, the descendents of Lafayette who were born thereafter could only acquire United States citizenship on the terms specified by Congress, and they were not in a position to acquire such citizenship by virtue of the Maryland act of 1784..
  14. News: Bash. Dana. Helms says he aims to offer U.S. citizenship to Elian Gonzalez. February 2, 2011. CNN. December 23, 1999. June 22, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110622074520/http://archives.cnn.com/1999/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/23/helms.gonzalez/index.html. dead.
  15. Web site: April 9, 1963 . Public Law 88–6; 77 Stat. . An Act to Proclaim Sir Winston Churchill an Honorary Citizen of the United States of America . June 28, 2024 . . 5.
  16. Web site: October 5, 1981 . Public Law 97–54; 95 Stat. . Proclaiming Raul Wallenberg to be an Honorary Citizen of the United States, and Requesting the President to Ascertain from the Soviet Union the Whereabouts of Raul Wallenberg and to Secure his Return to Freedom . June 28, 2024 . . 971.
  17. Web site: Proclamation 5284 – Honorary United States Citizenship for William and Hannah Penn. Proclamation 5284. Reagan Presidential Library. May 4, 2016. November 28, 1984. https://web.archive.org/web/20161022012256/https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/speeches/1984/112884a.htm. October 22, 2016. dead.
  18. Web site: October 19, 1984 . Public Law 98–516; 98 Stat. . Joint Resolution to Grant Posthumously Full Rights of Citizenship to William Penn and to Hannah Callowhill Penn . June 28, 2024 . . 2423.
  19. H.J. Res. 191
  20. Web site: October 1, 1996 . Public Law 104–218; 110 Stat. . Joint Resolution To Confer Honorary Citizenship of the United States on Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, also Known as Mother Teresa. . June 28, 2024 . . 3021.
  21. Web site: August 6, 2002 . Public Law 107–209; 116 Stat. . Joint Resolution Conferring Honorary Citizenship of the United States Posthumously on Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette. . June 28, 2024 . . 931.
  22. Web site: Casimir Pulaski Day . . February 2, 2011 . 2005 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120722013614/http://castle.eiu.edu/~insight/pulaski/pulaski.htm . July 22, 2012 .
  23. Book: Richmond, Yale. From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans. 1995. Intercultural Press. Yarmouth, Me. 1-877864-30-7. 72.
  24. News: Associated Press. Citizenship for Polish Hero of American Revolution . Gen. Casimir Pulaski finally became an American citizen, 230 years after he died fighting in the Revolutionary War. . The New York Times. November 7, 2009. November 19, 2009.
  25. Web site: November 9, 2009 . Public Law 111–94; 123 Stat. . Joint Resolution Proclaiming Casimir Pulaski to be an Honorary Citizen of the United States Posthumously. . June 28, 2024 . . 2999.
  26. Web site: Galvez. Bernardo. H.J. Res. 105 Engrossed in House (EH). US Congress. November 3, 2014.
  27. Web site: December 16, 2014 . Public Law 113–229; 128 Stat. . Joint Resolution Conferring Honorary Citizenship of the United States on Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez. . June 28, 2024 . . 2117.

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