''Rogers v. Bellei'', 401 U.S. 815 (1971), was a decision by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, which held that an individual who received an automatic congressional grant of citizenship at birth, but who was born outside the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, may lose his citizenship for failure to fulfill any reasonable residence requirements which the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

may impose as a

condition subsequent A condition subsequent is a philosophical and legal term referring to a defined event which terminates a proposition or a contractual obligation. In contrast to a condition precedent, a condition subsequent brings the event (or obligation) to an end ...

to that citizenship.

The case

The appellee, Aldo Mario Bellei, was born in Italy to an Italian father and an American mother. He acquired U.S. citizenship by virtue of section 1993 of the Revised Statutes of 1874, which conferred citizenship upon any child born outside the United States of only one American parent (known as ''

jus sanguinis ( , , ; 'right of blood') is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is determined or acquired by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents. Children at birth may be citizens of a particular state if either or both of t ...

''). Bellei received several warnings from government officials that failure to fulfill the five-year residency requirement before age 28 could result in loss of his U.S. citizenship. In 1964, he received a letter informing him that his citizenship had been revoked under § 301(b) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (), also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, codified under Title 8 of the United States Code (), governs immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It came into effect on June 27, 1952. Before ...

. Bellei challenged the constitutionality of this act. The three-judge District Court held the section unconstitutional, citing ''

Afroyim v. Rusk ''Afroyim v. Rusk'', 387 U.S. 253 (1967), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled that citizenship in the United States, citizens of the United States ...

'', and ''

Schneider v. Rusk ''Schneider v. Rusk'', 377 U.S. 163 (1964), was a United States Supreme Court case which invalidated a law that treated naturalized and native-born citizens differentially under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.. Background Angelika ...

''. The Supreme Court reversed the decision, ruling against Bellei.

Later

The statute under which Bellei was stripped of his citizenship was repealed by the U.S. Congress in 1978.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers v. Bellei 1971 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court United States immigration and naturalization case law History of immigration to the United States

The case

Later

See also

References

Further reading

External links