Cable Act
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| Other short titles |
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|---|---|
| Long title | An Act relative to the naturalization and citizenship of married women. |
| Nicknames | Cable Act of 1922 |
| Enacted by | the 67th United States Congress |
| Effective | September 22, 1922 (at very bottom of page and on following pages) |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 67-346 |
| Statutes at Large | 42 Stat. 1021b |
| Codification | |
| Acts repealed | Expatriation Act of 1907 |
| Titles amended | 8 U.S.C.: Aliens and Nationality |
| U.S.C. sections created | 8 U.S.C. ch. 9 §§ 367-370 |
| Legislative history | |
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The Cable Act of 1922 (ch. 411, 42 Stat. 1021, "Married Women's Independent Nationality Act") was a United States federal law that reversed former immigration laws regarding marriage. (It is also known as the Married Women's Citizenship Act or the Women's Citizenship Act). Previously, a woman lost her US citizenship if she married a foreign man, since she assumed the citizenship of her husband, a law that did not apply to US citizen men who married foreign women. The law repealed sections 3 and 4 of the Expatriation Act of 1907.[1]
The law is named for Ohio representative John L. Cable, who proposed the legislation.
Context of the Law
Former immigration laws prior to 1922 did not make reference to the alien husband's race.[2] However, The Cable Act of 1922 guaranteed independent female citizenship only to women who were married to an "alien eligible to naturalization," where said naturalization also excluded aliens ineligible to citizenship via specific exclusions as codified in Immigration Law.[3] At the time of the law's passage, Asian aliens were not considered to be racially eligible for US citizenship.[4][5] As such, the Cable Act only partially reversed previous policies and allowed women to retain their US citizenship after marrying a foreigner who was not Asian.
The Cable Act also had other limitations: a woman lost her citizenship upon marriage to an alien ineligible to citizenship; a woman could keep her US citizenship after marrying a non-Asian alien if she stayed within the United States. However, if she married a foreigner and lived on foreign soil for two years, she could still lose her right to US nationality.
1930 Cable Act Amendments reinforced a woman's loss of citizenship through marriage to an alien ineligible to citizenship, and Section 3 of unedited versions of the law's text indicate that: If at the termination of the marital status she is a citizen of the United States, she shall retain her citizenship regardless of her residence.
ln 1931, the Naturalization Act of 1906 amendment allowed females to retain their citizenship even if they married an Asian.[6] In 1936, the Cable Act was not rescinded by the 74th United States Congress'. Congress did pass a law "to repatriate native-born women who have heretofore lost their citizenship by marriage to an alien, and for other purposes...said purpose clarified that women who lost citizenship prior to September 22, 1922, to an alien (either eligible to citizenship or ineligible to citizenship), and whose marital status with such alien has or shall have terminated, shall be deemed to be a citizen of the United States to the same extent as though her marriage to said alien had taken place on or after September 22, 1922 (when the Cable Act came into legal force). The 1936 law merely clarified that a married woman who lost her citizenship before or on September 22, 1922 could "retain" her citizenship" provided she was NOT married to an alien ineligible to citizenship, and the Act of 1936 further clarified that such woman was not a citizen until such time as she took the oath of citizenship.[5][7]
Amendments to 1922 Act
U.S. Congressional amendments to the Married Women's Citizenship Act.
| Date of Enactment | Public Law Number | U.S. Statute Citation | U.S. Legislative Bill | U.S. Presidential Administration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 3, 1930 | P.L. 71-508 | 46 Stat. 854 | H.R. 10960 | Herbert Hoover |
| March 3, 1931 | P.L. 71-829 | 46 Stat. 1511 | H.R. 10672 | Herbert Hoover |
| May 17, 1932 | Public Resolution 20 | 47 Stat. 158a | S.J.Res. 36 | Herbert Hoover |
| May 24, 1934 | P.L. 73-250 | 48 Stat. 797 | H.R. 3673 | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
See also
- American Woman Suffrage Association
- National American Woman Suffrage Association
- National Woman Suffrage Association
- National Woman's Party
References
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- ↑ [1] Archived 2007-01-15 at the Wayback Machine[full citation needed]
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. ISBN 0-691-08993-0, ISBN 978-0-691-08993-5
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External links
- Norton, Mary Beth and Associates. A People And A Nation. Volume 2. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York. ISBN 0-618-21470-4
- "Any woman who is now or may hereafter be married . . ." Women and Naturalization, ca. 1802-1940 by Marian L. Smith, via U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
- Nancy Cott, Public Vows, pp. 164–165.
- "For Teachers: A Brief Introduction to Asian American History", via "Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program" Retrieved on 2006-02-03.
- Brown, Michael. "Race and Gender in the World of Victorio Velasco: Dominance, Subordination, and Changes in Contex" ASPAC: Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast. Retrieved on 2006-02-23.
- Mintz, S. (2003). "Timeline of Asian American History" Digital History. Retrieved on 2006-02-23.
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