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Honorary citizenship of the United States

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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.

Churchill's identification document as an honorary citizen, provided as a gift from President Kennedy. Though similar in appearance, it could not function as a passport.[1]

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][2][6][7][8]

Lafayette boasted in 1792 that he had become an American citizen before the French Revolution created the concept of French citizenship.[9] In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson wrote that he would have offered to make Lafayette governor of Louisiana, had he been "on the spot".[10] In 1932, descendant René de Chambrun established his American citizenship based on the Maryland resolution,[11][12] 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.[13] 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.[5]

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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List of honorary citizens of the United States
Num. Name Image Date Nationality Note Ref.
1 Sir Winston Churchill   April 9, 1963   United Kingdom Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, notably during World War II.[8] [15]
2 Raoul Wallenberg   October 5, 1981
[a] 		  Sweden Swedish diplomat who rescued Jews in Hungary from the Holocaust. [16]
3, 4 William Penn   October 19, 1984
[a] 		  England Founder of the Province of Pennsylvania.[17] [18]
Hannah Callowhill Penn   Administrator of the Province of Pennsylvania, second wife of William Penn.[17]
5 Mother Teresa   October 1, 1996   India[b] Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.[19] [20]
6 Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette   August 6, 2002
[a] 		  Kingdom of France A Frenchman who was an officer in the American Revolutionary War. [21]
7 Casimir Pulaski   November 6, 2009
[a] 		  Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 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 Bernardo de Gálvez   December 16, 2014
[a] 		  Spain 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

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e awarded posthumously
  2. ^ Born in Ottoman Empire

References

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  1. ^ a b "8 FAM 306.1: Honorary Citizenship". Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 8. U.S. Department of State. June 27, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Sir Winston May Get U.S. Citizenship". Sarasota Journal. UPI. March 11, 1963. p. 5. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  3. ^ Lafayette again became an honorary citizen of Maryland in 1823, as well as of Connecticut the same year.
  4. ^ Speare, Morris Edmund (September 7, 1919). "Lafayette, Citizen of America" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  5. ^ a b IN THE MATTER OF M, 6 IN Dec. 749 (B.I.A. 1955) ("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.").
  6. ^ Folliard, Edward T. (May 25, 1973). "JFK Slipped on Historical Data In Churchill Tribute". Sarasota Journal. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  7. ^ Cornell, Douglas B. (April 10, 1963). "Churchill Acceptance 'Honors Us Far More'". The Sumter Daily Item. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  8. ^ a b Plumpton, John (Summer 1988). "A Son of America Though a Subject of Britain". Finest Hour (60). The Churchill Centre.
  9. ^ "Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds". Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds. Cornell University Library. 2006. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  10. ^ "Lafayette's Triumphal Tour: America, 1824–1825". Lafayette: Citizen of Two Worlds. Cornell University Library. 2006. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  11. ^ "Letters". TIME. December 2, 1940. Archived from the original on September 17, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  12. ^ Rogister, John (August 17, 2002). "Obituaries: René de Chambrun". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 1, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  13. ^ Gottschalk, Louis Reichenthal (1950). Lafayette Between the American and the French Revolution (1783–1789). University of Chicago Press. pp. 435–436.
  14. ^ Bash, Dana (December 23, 1999). "Helms says he aims to offer U.S. citizenship to Elian Gonzalez". CNN. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  15. ^ "An Act to Proclaim Sir Winston Churchill an Honorary Citizen of the United States of America" (PDF). Public Law 88–6; 77 Stat. Senate. April 9, 1963. p. 5. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ^ "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" (PDF). Public Law 97–54; 95 Stat. Senate. October 5, 1981. p. 971. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. ^ a b "Proclamation 5284 – Honorary United States Citizenship for William and Hannah Penn". Proclamation 5284. Reagan Presidential Library. November 28, 1984. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  18. ^ "Joint Resolution to Grant Posthumously Full Rights of Citizenship to William Penn and to Hannah Callowhill Penn" (PDF). Public Law 98–516; 98 Stat. Senate. October 19, 1984. p. 2423. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  19. ^ H.J. Res. 191 (Pub. L. 104–218 (text) (PDF), 110 Stat. 3021, enacted October 1, 1996)
  20. ^ "Joint Resolution To Confer Honorary Citizenship of the United States on Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, also Known as Mother Teresa" (PDF). Public Law 104–218; 110 Stat. Senate. October 1, 1996. p. 3021. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. ^ "Joint Resolution Conferring Honorary Citizenship of the United States Posthumously on Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette" (PDF). Public Law 107–209; 116 Stat. Senate. August 6, 2002. p. 931. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  22. ^ "Casimir Pulaski Day". Office of Civil Rights and Diversity at Eastern Illinois University. 2005. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  23. ^ Richmond, Yale (1995). From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans. Yarmouth, Me: Intercultural Press. p. 72. ISBN 1-877864-30-7.
  24. ^ "Citizenship for Polish Hero of American Revolution". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 7, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009. Gen. Casimir Pulaski finally became an American citizen, 230 years after he died fighting in the Revolutionary War.
  25. ^ "Joint Resolution Proclaiming Casimir Pulaski to be an Honorary Citizen of the United States Posthumously" (PDF). Public Law 111–94; 123 Stat. Senate. November 9, 2009. p. 2999. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  26. ^ Galvez, Bernardo. "H.J. Res. 105 Engrossed in House (EH)". US Congress. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
  27. ^ "Joint Resolution Conferring Honorary Citizenship of the United States on Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez" (PDF). Public Law 113–229; 128 Stat. Senate. December 16, 2014. p. 2117. Retrieved June 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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