Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Supreme Court to Rule on Naturalized Citizens Staying in Native Lands

October 30, 1963
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

The Supreme Court agreed today to rule on the constitutionality of a portion of the McCarran-Walter Act which deprives naturalized citizens of their citizenship if they return to their country of origin and remain there three years or longer.

The issue has significance for some born in Palestine who later became naturalized Americans and experienced difficulties under the McCarran-Walter Act after returning to Israel. The immediate case testing the law is that of Mrs. Angelika Schneider, a German-American woman who has claimed that the law unconstitutionally discriminates against naturalized American citizens.

Mrs. Schneider’s attorneys have depicted her loss of naturalized citizenship as an arbitrary discrimination between native born and naturalized citizens. She was penalized with loss of naturalization because she returned to Germany and remained there over three years. Mrs. Schneider acquired her citizenship after World War II.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement