Cable Act

The Cable Act of 1922 (ch. 411, 42 Stat. 1021, "Married Women’s Independent Nationality Act") is a United States federal law that reversed former immigration laws regarding marriage. Previously, a woman lost her U.S citizenship if she married a foreign man, since she assumed the citizenship of her husband—a law that did not apply to men who married foreign women.

Former immigration laws prior to 1922 did not make reference to the alien husband's race. [http://mcel.pacificu.edu/aspac/home/papers/scholars/brown/brown.php3] However, The Cable Act of 1922 guaranteed independent female citizenship only to women who were married to "alien [s] eligible to naturalization". [http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/summer/women-and-naturalization-1.html] At the time of the law's passage, Asian aliens were not considered to be racially eligible for U.S. citizenship. [http://www.apa.si.edu/Curriculum%20Guide-Final/teacherhistory.htm] [http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/asian_voices/asian_timeline.cfm] As such, the Cable Act only partially reversed previous policies, granting independent female citizenship only to women who married non-Asians. The Cable Act effectively revoked the U.S. citizenship of any woman who married an Asian alien.

The Cable Act had additional limitations, since a woman could keep her US citizenship if she stayed within the United States, but if she married a foreigner and lived on foreign soil for as much as two years, she could still lose her right to American nationality.

The Cable Act was amended in 1931, allowing females to retain their citizenship, even after marrying "aliens ineligible for U.S. citizenship". [Martha Gardner, The Qualities of a Citizen: Women, Immigration, and Citizenship, 1870-1965 (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005), 146 ] In 1936, the Cable Act was repealed. [http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/asian_voices/asian_timeline.cfm]

References

*Norton, Mary Beth and Associates. A People And A Nation. Volume 2. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, New York. ISBN 0-618-21470-4
* [http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/summer/women-and-naturalization-1.html "Any woman who is now or may hereafter be married . . ." Women and Naturalization, ca. 1802-1940 by Marian L. Smith] , via U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
*Nancy Cott, Public Vows, pp. 164-165.
* [http://www.apa.si.edu/Curriculum%20Guide-Final/teacherhistory.htm "For Teachers: A Brief Introduction to Asian American History"] , via [http://www.apa.si.edu/ "Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program"] Retrieved on 2006-02-03.
*Brown, Michael. [http://mcel.pacificu.edu/aspac/home/papers/scholars/brown/brown.php3 "Race and Gender in the World of Victorio Velasco: Dominance, Subordination, and Changes in Contex"] "ASPAC: Asian Studies on the Pacific Coast". Retrieved on 2006-02-23.
*Mintz, S. (2003). [http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/asian_voices/asian_timeline.cfm "Timeline of Asian American History"] "Digital History". Retrieved on 2006-02-23.