Revoking Citizenship: Expatriation in America from the Colonial Era to the War on Terror

Revoking citizenship has been an official part of American policy since the end of the nineteenth century. This book sheds light on the current state practice by looking at its transformation in the United States from the colonial era to the War on Terror. Not limited to a legal studies perspective, it also places the revocation of citizenship within the framework of historical sociology. An examination is conducted of the laws and legal procedures involved in the revocation of citizenship, which include statutory bills, acts, and relevant constitutional amendments, proposed and legislated; court opinions, proceedings, and protocols of commissions regarding the loss of citizenship; and international and bilateral treaties. Consular correspondence, debates within the Department of State, and statistical data regarding the implementation of citizenship-revocation measures are examined, as well. The study of the revocation of citizenship simultaneously gives information about topical events and provides insight into the nature of rights in general in the modern world. The chapter shows that expatriation policy is an attempt to regulate and enforce the national world order. According to the national logic, national allegiance should be exclusive to a single nation-state, and multiple citizenships should not be allowed. The practice of taking away citizenship was introduced largely to eliminate dual citizenship, which poses a great challenge to the national logic that assumes full loyalty to one’s nation-state.