About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

12 Int'l L. 825 (1978)
The Bancroft Conventions: Second-Class Citizenship for Naturalized Americans

handle is hein.journals/intlyr12 and id is 847 raw text is: MICHAEL WALTER* The Bancroft Conventions: Second-Class Citizenship for Naturalized Americans It is now commonplace to assert that the law recognizes no second-class citizens with respect to race, creed, color or national origin. Unfortunately, this is not yet so with respect to national origin. Because of a set of old naturalization treaties known as the Bancroft conventions, naturalized Americans from twenty-one countries still risk losing their citizenship if they return to their country of origin and remain there two years. The 1964 Supreme Court decision in Schneider v. Rusk' invalidated a section of the Im- migration and Nationality Act of 1952,2 which stripped any naturalized American of his citizenship after three years' continuous residence in his coun- try of origin. But the Schneider decision did not touch loss of nationality pro- visions in the Bancroft conventions which are essentially the same as the statutory provisions struck down by the Court. The result subjects American citizens from Bancroft convention countries to overseas residency restrictions which apply to no other Americans, whether naturalized or native born. History and Major Provisions Conceived in an era when the right of individuals to renounce their national allegiance was not widely acknowledged among the community of nations,' the Bancroft conventions were a means of securing recognition by foreign governments of the right of their nationals to become American citizens.4 *A.B., Indiana University 1969; M.A., Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced Interna- tional Studies (SAIS) 1976; Third-year student, Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington. Mr. Walter is a former Peace Corps Volunteer and Foreign Service Officer. '377 U.S. 163 (1964). 'Section 352(a)(1), 66 Stat. 269, 8 U.S.C. § 1484(a)(1) (1952): (a) A person who has become a national by naturalization shall lose his nationality by- (I) having a continuous residence for three years in the territory of a foreign state of which he was formerly a national or in which the place of his birth is situated .... 'See Agata, Involuntary Expatriation and Schneider v. Rusk, 27 U. PiT. L. REV. 1, 19-21 (1965). 4See GORDON & ROSENFIELD, IMMIGRATION LAW AND PROCEDURE, § 20.7b (1977). International Lawyer, Vol. 12, No. 4

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most