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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/ChurchillsUSPassport.png/180px-ChurchillsUSPassport.png)
A person of exceptional merit, a non-United States citizen, may be declared an honorary citizen of the United States by an Act of Congress or by a proclamation issued by the president of the United States, pursuant to authorization granted by Congress.
Eight people have been so honored, six posthumously, and two, Sir Winston Churchill and Saint Teresa of Calcutta, during their lifetimes. For Lafayette and Mother Teresa, the honor was proclaimed directly by an Act of Congress. In the other cases, an Act of Congress was passed authorizing the President to grant honorary citizenship by proclamation. What rights and privileges honorary citizenship bestows, if any, is unclear. According to State Department documents, it does not grant eligibility for United States passports.[1]
Honorary citizenship should not be confused with citizenship or permanent residency bestowed by a private bill. Private bills are, on rare occasions, used to provide relief to individuals, often in immigration cases, and are also passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. One such statute, granting Elián González U.S. citizenship, was suggested in 1999 but never enacted.[2]
Background
[edit]Honorary citizenship was first granted by U.S. Congress to Winston Churchill in 1963.[3] Previously, Lafayette, and all of his male-line heirs, were granted the status of natural-born citizenship by the state of Maryland on December 28, 1784; this became natural-born citizenship of the United States under the United States Constitution, as all citizens of ratifying states became U.S. citizens.[4] Unlike normal citizenship, honorary citizenship is purely symbolic: it grants no rights and carries no obligations.[5]
Recipients
[edit]Num. | Name | Image | Date | Nationality | Note | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sir Winston Churchill | ![]() |
April 9, 1963 | ![]() |
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, notably during World War II.[6] | [7] |
2 | Raoul Wallenberg | ![]() |
October 5, 1981 [a] |
![]() |
Swedish diplomat who rescued Jews in Hungary from the Holocaust. | [8] |
3, 4 | William Penn | ![]() |
October 19, 1984 [a] |
![]() |
Founder of the Province of Pennsylvania.[9] | [10] |
Hannah Callowhill Penn | ![]() |
Administrator of the Province of Pennsylvania, second wife of William Penn.[9] | ||||
5 | Mother Teresa | ![]() |
October 1, 1996 | ![]() |
Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.[11] | [12] |
6 | Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette | ![]() |
August 6, 2002 [a] |
![]() |
A Frenchman who was an officer in the American Revolutionary War. | [13] |
7 | Casimir Pulaski | November 6, 2009 [a] |
![]() |
Polish military officer who saved the life of George Washington, and fought and died for the United States against the British during the American Revolutionary War; notable politician and member of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth nobility, American brigadier general who has been called "The Father of the American Cavalry" and died during the Siege of Savannah. Remembered as a national hero both in Poland and in the United States.[14][15][16] | [17] | |
8 | Bernardo de Gálvez | ![]() |
December 16, 2014 [a] |
![]() |
A Spanish officer and colonial governor who was a hero of the American Revolutionary War, risking his life for the freedom of United States citizens; provided supplies, intelligence, and strong military support to the war effort; was wounded during the Siege of Pensacola, demonstrating bravery that forever endeared him to the United States soldiers.[18] | [19] |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "8 FAM 306.1: Honorary Citizenship". Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 8. U.S. Department of State. June 27, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
- ^ Bash, Dana (December 23, 1999). "Helms says he aims to offer U.S. citizenship to Elian Gonzalez". CNN. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ O'Brien, Garrett (April 5, 2021). "Honorary American Citizenship: America's Least Known Commendation". The Saturday Evening Post. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ Speare, Morris Edmund (September 7, 1919). "Lafayette, Citizen of America" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ "Honorary Citizenship". Foreign Affairs Manual. United States Department of State. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
plumpton1988summer
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "An Act to Proclaim Sir Winston Churchill an Honorary Citizen of the United States of America" (PDF). Public Law 88–6; 77 Stat. Senate. April 9, 1963. p. 5. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Proclaiming Raul Wallenberg to be an Honorary Citizen of the United States, and Requesting the President to Ascertain from the Soviet Union the Whereabouts of Raul Wallenberg and to Secure his Return to Freedom" (PDF). Public Law 97–54; 95 Stat. Senate. October 5, 1981. p. 971. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b "Proclamation 5284 – Honorary United States Citizenship for William and Hannah Penn". Proclamation 5284. Reagan Presidential Library. November 28, 1984. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
- ^ "Joint Resolution to Grant Posthumously Full Rights of Citizenship to William Penn and to Hannah Callowhill Penn" (PDF). Public Law 98–516; 98 Stat. Senate. October 19, 1984. p. 2423. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ H.J. Res. 191 (Pub. L. 104–218 (text) (PDF), 110 Stat. 3021, enacted October 1, 1996)
- ^ "Joint Resolution To Confer Honorary Citizenship of the United States on Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, also Known as Mother Teresa" (PDF). Public Law 104–218; 110 Stat. Senate. October 1, 1996. p. 3021. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Joint Resolution Conferring Honorary Citizenship of the United States Posthumously on Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette" (PDF). Public Law 107–209; 116 Stat. Senate. August 6, 2002. p. 931. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Casimir Pulaski Day". Office of Civil Rights and Diversity at Eastern Illinois University. 2005. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
- ^ Richmond, Yale (1995). From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeans. Yarmouth, Me: Intercultural Press. p. 72. ISBN 1-877864-30-7.
- ^ "Citizenship for Polish Hero of American Revolution". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 7, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
Gen. Casimir Pulaski finally became an American citizen, 230 years after he died fighting in the Revolutionary War.
- ^ "Joint Resolution Proclaiming Casimir Pulaski to be an Honorary Citizen of the United States Posthumously" (PDF). Public Law 111–94; 123 Stat. Senate. November 9, 2009. p. 2999. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Galvez, Bernardo. "H.J. Res. 105 Engrossed in House (EH)". US Congress. Retrieved November 3, 2014.
- ^ "Joint Resolution Conferring Honorary Citizenship of the United States on Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Viscount of Galveston and Count of Gálvez" (PDF). Public Law 113–229; 128 Stat. Senate. December 16, 2014. p. 2117. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: others (link)
External links
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