Nicknames Cable Act of 1922 Public law 67-346 | Effective September 22, 1922 | |
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Other short titles Married Women's Citizenship Act
Married Women's Independent Nationality Act
Women's Citizenship Act Long title An Act relative to the naturalization and citizenship of married women. Enacted by the 67th United States Congress | ||
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 The law repealed sections 3 and 4 of the Expatriation Act of 1907.
Contents
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. However, The Cable Act of 1922 guaranteed independent female citizenship only to women who were married to an "alien eligible to naturalization." At the time of the law's passage, Asian aliens were not considered to be racially eligible for US citizenship. 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. Thus, even after the Cable Act become effective, any woman who married an Asian alien lost her US citizenship, just as under the previous law.
The Cable Act also had other limitations: 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.
ln 1931, the Naturalization Act of 1906 amendment allowed females to retain their citizenship even if they married an Asian. In 1936, the Cable Act was rescinded by the 74th U.S. Congressional session passage of the Citizenship Repatriation Act of 1936.
Amendments to 1922 Act
U.S. Congressional amendments to the Married Women's Citizenship Act.