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U.S. title of honor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Despite widespread belief that Lafayette received honorary citizenship of the United States before Churchill,[2] he did not receive honorary citizenship until 2002. Lafayette did become a natural-born citizen during his lifetime. On December 28, 1784, the Maryland General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Lafayette and his male heirs "forever shall be...natural born Citizens" of the state.[3] This made him a natural-born citizen of the United States under the Articles of Confederation and as defined in Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution.[4][5][2][6][7][8]
Lafayette boasted in 1792 that he had become an American citizen before the French Revolution created the concept of French citizenship.[9] In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson wrote that he would have offered to make Lafayette governor of Louisiana, had he been "on the spot".[10] In 1932, descendant René de Chambrun established his American citizenship based on the Maryland resolution,[11][12] although he was probably ineligible for the distinction, as the inherited citizenship was likely only intended for direct descendants who were heir to Lafayette's estate and title.[13] The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in 1955 that "it is possible to argue" that Lafayette and living male heirs became American citizens when the Constitution became effective on March 4, 1789, but that heirs born later were not U.S. citizens.[5]
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.[14]
| Num. | Name | Image | Date | Nationality | Note | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sir Winston Churchill | .jpg) |
April 9, 1963 |  United Kingdom |
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, notably during World War II.[8] | [15] |
| 2 | Raoul Wallenberg | .jpg) |
October 5, 1981 [a] |
 Sweden |
Swedish diplomat who rescued Jews in Hungary from the Holocaust. | [16] |
| 3, 4 | William Penn | .png) |
October 19, 1984 [a] |
 England |
Founder of the Province of Pennsylvania.[17] | [18] |
| Hannah Callowhill Penn |  |
Administrator of the Province of Pennsylvania, second wife of William Penn.[17] | ||||
| 5 | Mother Teresa | .jpg) |
October 1, 1996 |  India[b] |
Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.[19] | [20] |
| 6 | Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette | .jpg) |
August 6, 2002 [a] |
 Kingdom of France |
A Frenchman who was an officer in the American Revolutionary War. | [21] |
| 7 | Casimir Pulaski | .PNG) |
November 6, 2009 [a] |
 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |
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.[22][23][24] | [25] |
| 8 | Bernardo de Gálvez | .jpg) |
December 16, 2014 [a] |
 Spain |
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.[26] | [27] |
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