Early U.S. Naturalization Laws

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Article I, Section 8, Clause 4:

[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; . . .

Congress established its first uniform rule of naturalization through the Naturalization Act of 1790. The Act provided that any “free white person” who resided “within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States” for at least two years could be granted citizenship if he or she showed “good character” and swore allegiance to the Constitution.1 The law also provided that the children of naturalized citizens under the age of twenty-one at the time of their parents’ naturalization and who were residing in the United States would be considered U.S. citizens.2 The children of U.S. citizens who were born outside the United States were deemed U.S. citizens unless their fathers had never resided in the United States.3 Additionally, Congress delegated to the courts the power to administer the naturalization process.4

In 1795 Congress amended the naturalization law by requiring an applicant to submit a declaration of intent to become a citizen at least three years before naturalization, and extending the minimum residence requirement to five years.5 Then, in 1798, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which, among other things, lengthened the period in which to declare an intent to become a citizen to five years, lengthened the minimum residence requirement to fourteen years, and barred the naturalization of any alien from a country at war with the United States.6 In 1802, Congress repealed the previous laws and restored both the five-year residence requirement and the three-year declaration of intent period.7

In the ensuing years, Congress continued to establish naturalization policies with varying conditions and restrictions.8 Despite these differences, naturalization laws uniformly required that an applicant prove residence in the United States for a specific time period before acquiring citizenship.9

1: See Naturalization Act of 1790, ch. 3, § 1, 1 Stat. 103, 103–04 (repealed 1795).
2: Id.
3: Id.
4: Id. See also Frederick Van Dyne, A Treatise on the Law of Naturalization of the United States 9 (1907) ( “In the United States naturalization is a judicial function, having been committed by Congress to the courts.” ).
5: Naturalization Act of 1795, ch. 20, § 1, 1 Stat. 414, 414 (repealed 1802).
6: Naturalization Act of 1798, ch. 54, § 1, 1 Stat. 566, 566–67 (repealed 1802); see also Alien Friends Act, ch. 58, § 1, 1 Stat. 570, 570–71 (1798) (authorizing the President to deport aliens who are “dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States,” or who are reasonably suspected of being “concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government” ); Alien Enemy Act, ch. 66, § 1, 1 Stat. 577, 577 (1798) (providing that “all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be within the United States, and not actually naturalized, shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies” ).
7: See Naturalization Law of 1802, ch. 28, § 1, 2 Stat. 153, 153–54. In the 1802 law, Congress continued to limit eligibility for naturalization to “free white persons” who had good moral character. Id. The law also extended citizenship to children of naturalized citizens who were under twenty-one at the time of their parents’ naturalization and who were residing in the United States, as well as children of U.S. citizens who were born outside the United States (unless their fathers had never resided in the United States). Id. § 4. Congress eventually extended naturalization eligibility to “aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent” in 1870. Naturalization Act of 1870, ch. 254, § 7, 16 Stat. 254, 256.
8: See e.g., Naturalization Act of 1804, ch. 47, 2 Stat. 292 (providing that any alien who was a “free white person” residing in the United States between June 18, 1798, and April 14, 1802, and who continued to reside in the United States, could become a citizen without timely filing a declaration of intent; and that the widow and children of any alien who filed a declaration of intent and subsequently passed away prior to naturalization would be considered U.S. citizens); Act of Mar. 22, 1816, ch. 32, § 1, 3 Stat. 258, 258–59 (requiring every applicant for naturalization who arrived in the United States since June 18, 1812, to produce a “certificate of report and registry” as evidence of the time of his arrival in the United States, as well as a certificate of his duly filed declaration of intention); Naturalization Act of 1824, ch. 186, § 1, 4 Stat. 69, 69 (providing that any alien minor who was a “free white person” and who lived in the United States for the three years before turning twenty-one, and who continued to reside in the United States, could become a citizen without timely filing a declaration of intent if he had reached the age of twenty-one and had resided in the United States for five years at the time of filing his naturalization application); Act of May 24, 1828, ch. 116, § 2, 4 Stat. 310, 310–11 (providing that any alien who was a “free white person” residing in the United States between April 14, 1802 and June 18, 1812, and who continued to reside in the United States, could naturalize without timely filing a declaration of intent, provided that he could show that he was residing in the United States before June 18, 1812, and that he maintained continuous residence in the United States since then; and requiring applicant to prove residence in the United States for at least five years immediately preceding application through “the oath or affirmation of citizens of the United States” ); Naturalization Act of 1855, ch. 71, 10 Stat. 604 (extending naturalization to wives of U.S. citizens); Naturalization Act of 1870, ch. 254, § 7, 16 Stat. 254, 256 (extending naturalization eligibility to “aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent” ).
9: See United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649, 686–87 (1898) ( “From the first organization of the national government under the [C]onstitution, the naturalization acts of the United States, in providing for the admission of aliens to citizenship by judicial proceedings, uniformly required every applicant to have resided for a certain time ‘within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States,’ and thus applied the words ‘under the jurisdiction of the United States’ to aliens residing here before they had taken an oath to support the [C]onstitution of the United States, or had renounced allegiance to a foreign government.” ).