In this Book

summary

Present-day Americans feel secure in their citizenship: they are free to speak up for any cause, oppose their government, marry a person of any background, and live where they choose—at home or abroad. Denaturalization and denationalization are more often associated with twentieth-century authoritarian regimes. But there was a time when American-born and naturalized foreign-born individuals in the United States could be deprived of their citizenship and its associated rights. Patrick Weil examines the twentieth-century legal procedures, causes, and enforcement of denaturalization to illuminate an important but neglected dimension of Americans' understanding of sovereignty and federal authority: a citizen is defined, in part, by the parameters that could be used to revoke that same citizenship.

The Sovereign Citizen begins with the Naturalization Act of 1906, which was intended to prevent realization of citizenship through fraudulent or illegal means. Denaturalization—a process provided for by one clause of the act—became the main instrument for the transfer of naturalization authority from states and local courts to the federal government. Alongside the federalization of naturalization, a conditionality of citizenship emerged: for the first half of the twentieth century, naturalized individuals could be stripped of their citizenship not only for fraud but also for affiliations with activities or organizations that were perceived as un-American. (Emma Goldman's case was the first and perhaps best-known denaturalization on political grounds, in 1909.) By midcentury the Supreme Court was fiercely debating cases and challenged the constitutionality of denaturalization and denationalization. This internal battle lasted almost thirty years. The Warren Court's eventual decision to uphold the sovereignty of the citizen—not the state—secures our national order to this day. Weil's account of this transformation, and the political battles fought by its advocates and critics, reshapes our understanding of American citizenship.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. 2-5
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-12
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part I. The Federalization of Naturalization
  2. pp. 13-21
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 1. Denaturalization, the Main Instrument of Federal Power
  2. pp. 15-29
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 2. The Installment of the Bureau of Naturalization, 1909– 1926
  2. pp. 30-43
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 3. The Victory of the Federalization of Naturalization, 1926– 1940
  2. pp. 44-52
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part II. A Conditional Citizenship
  2. pp. 53-61
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 4. The First Political Denaturalization: Emma Goldman
  2. pp. 55-64
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 5. Radicals and Asians
  2. pp. 65-82
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 6. In the Largest Numbers: The Penalty of Living Abroad
  2. pp. 83-91
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 7. The Proactive Denaturalization Program During World War II
  2. pp. 92-107
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Part III. War in the Supreme Court
  2. pp. 109-117
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 8. Schneiderman: A Republican Leader Defends a Communist
  2. pp. 111-123
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 9. Baumgartner: The Program Ends, but Denaturalization Continues
  2. pp. 124-133
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 10. A Frozen Interlude in the Cold War
  2. pp. 134-144
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 11. Nishikawa, Perez, Trop: “The Most Important Constitutional Pronouncements of This Century”
  2. pp. 145-165
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 12. American Citizenship Is Secured: “May Perez Rest in Peace!”
  2. pp. 166-175
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Conclusion
  2. pp. 176-185
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix 1. Emma Goldman, “A Woman Without a Country”
  2. pp. 187-195
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix 2. Chiefs of Naturalization Bureau and Evolution of Departmental Responsibilities
  2. pp. 196-203
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix 3. Naturalization Cancellations in the United States, 1907–1973
  2. pp. 197-204
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Appendix 4. Americans Expatriated, by Grounds and Year, 1945–1977
  2. pp. 198-199
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 203-266
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Archival Sources and Interviews
  2. pp. 267-269
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. INDEX
  2. pp. 271-282
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. 283-285
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.