Rogers v. Bellei
Rogers v. Bellei | |
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Case history | |
Prior | Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia |
Holding | |
Congress has the power to impose the condition subsequent of residence in this country on appellee, who does not come within the Fourteenth Amendment's definition of citizens as those "born or naturalized in the United States," and its imposition is not unreasonable, arbitrary, or unlawful. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Blackmun, joined by Burger, Harlan, Stewart, White |
Dissent | Black, joined by Douglas, Marshall |
Dissent | Brennan, joined by Douglas |
Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815 (1971), was a decision by the
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). 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 In 1964, he received a letter informing him that his citizenship had been revoked under § 301(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.
Bellei challenged the constitutionality of this act. The three-judge District Court held the section unconstitutional, citing Afroyim v. Rusk, and Schneider v. Rusk.
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The statute under which Bellei was stripped of his citizenship was repealed by the U.S. Congress in 1978.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815 (1971).
- ^ "United States Citizens at Birth (INA 301 and 309) - Chapter 3, Part H, Volume 12 | Policy Manual". USCIS. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
Further reading
- Chaffee, D. R. (1972), "The Erosion of Citizenship: Rogers v. Bellei", Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, 5: 589.
- Fort, William H. (1971), "Involuntary Expatriation: Rogers v. Bellei—A Chink in the Armor of Affroyim [American University Law Review, 21: 184.
- Schwartz, David F. (1974), "American Citizenship after Afroyim and Bellei: Continuing Controversy", Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, 2: 1003.
External links
- Text of Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815 (1971) is available from: Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)