Spotlighting a law that stripped U.S.-born women of citizenship

[unhappycamper]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-apology-20140420,0,5493306.story



The Expatriation Act of 1907 required a woman who married a foreigner to 'take the nationality of her husband.' Daniel Swalm's grandmother was one such woman, and he's on a quest for justice.

Spotlighting a law that stripped U.S.-born women of citizenship
By Richard Simon
April 19, 2014, 9:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Daniel Swalm was researching his family when he came across a disturbing episode in immigration history. That discovery would lead to a move in the U.S. Senate to apologize for action the nation took more than a century ago.

Swalm discovered that under an obscure 1907 law, his grandmother Elsie, born and raised in Minnesota, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship after marrying an immigrant from Sweden.

Swalm had never heard of the Expatriation Act that required a U.S.-born woman who married a foreigner to "take the nationality of her husband."

Swalm, who lives in Minneapolis, found out about the law when he stumbled across an alien registration form filled out by Elsie Knutson Moren.

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[MisterP]

2. this was also a HUGE problem for Asian-Americans (I mean, not even Swedes are "white" enough!)