56143/937Board of Immigration Appeals Executive Office for Immigration Review U.S. Department of Justice
Decided by the Board December 15, 1943
Citizenship — Expatriation — Section 2, Act of March 2, 1907 — Oath of allegiance to foreign state.
A citizen of the United States was not expatriated under section 2, Act of March 2, 1907, when upon joining a private organization having no official connection with a foreign state he took an oath of allegiance to such state, the oath being neither required nor authorized by the foreign state.
EXCLUDED BY BOARD OF SPECIAL INQUIRY:
Act of 1924 — Immigrant without immigration visa. Executive Order 8766 — No passport.
Mr. Max Wilfand, Board attorney-examiner.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE: The appellant was accorded a hearing before a board of special inquiry at Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada, on August 16, August 26, and November 24, 1943, relative to his admissibility to the United States as an American citizen. The board of special inquiry denied his claim to American citizenship and excluded him on the grounds above stated. His appeal is now before us for consideration.
DISCUSSION: The appellant was born in Manchester, N.H., on January 3, 1898, and he lived in this country until 1925. Since 1925 he has lived in Canada. In 1939 the appellant joined the Legion of Frontiersmen affiliated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Eastern Canada Command, and remained a member of that organization until January 1, 1941. On October 7, 1939, and apparently in order to become a bona fide member of this organization, he executed the following form of oath of allegiance:
The Legion of Frontiersmen (affiliated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), Eastern Canada Command, oath of allegiance — I (name in full), do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Sixth, His heirs and successors and to the Imperial Headquarters of the Legion of Frontiersmen, London, England, and to those officers set in authority over me, according to law. So help me God. Sworn to before me at ______ this day of _______________.
The board of special inquiry concluded that the appellant had expatriated himself under section 401 (b) of the Nationality Act of 1940 by reason of taking the foregoing oath of allegiance. However, since this act did not go into operation until January 13, 1941, the
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appellant could not have lost his American citizenship under that provision. If he has expatriated himself by taking this oath of allegiance, it could have only occurred under section 2 of the Act of March 2, 1907, then in effect, and which read in its pertinent portion, as follows:
That any American citizen shall be deemed to have expatriated himself * * * when he has taken an oath of allegiance to any foreign state.
On November 9, 1943, pursuant to the district director’s request, which was made to obtain information as to the nature of the organization joined by the appellant in 1939, the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police wrote as follows:
In reply to your communication under date of the 1st instant concerning the above named, we wish to inform you that the Legion of Frontiersmen is a private organization which, at one time, was affiliated with the force. However, this affiliation has now been terminated.
The oath taken by appellant in joining the Legion of Frontiersmen would in no way be required by law.
The port also requested information from the headquarters of the Legion of Frontiersmen, and on November 12, 1943, a letter was written to the port setting forth this information. The Legion of Frontiersmen, Imperial Headquarters, London, England, the parent body of the organization, which the appellant joined in 1939, was affiliated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from 1936 until 1939. The affiliation, however, was only a courtesy, which did not in any way make the Frontiersmen a part of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, nor did it grant any of the members any police rights, privileges, powers, or authority. The Legion may be called upon by any competent governmental authority, police or army, to perform any service in the event of an emergency. When members are called for special duty by the police, each one automatically becomes a special constable when performing special duty. This status, however, ends when the duty is performed unless the member has been sworn in as a regular special constable in which event he may be called by the police at any time without reference to the unit of the Legion to which he belongs. The appellant never performed any special police duties. This organization receives no government subsidy and pays all of its expenses out of its own funds. Insofar as the oath of allegiance is concerned, the letter reads as follows:
The oath of allegiance to His Majesty the King was and is expected of every applicant for membership in this corps and until the beginning of this war no member was desired unless he was willing to accept such an oath.
The oath of allegiance is required under authority of the rules and regulations of this corps throughout the British Empire. It is not required insofar as our members are concerned by either Canadian or British law.
The authority to administer this oath is in the hands of any regularly appointed Government officer who is empowered to administer oaths, such as the justice ofPage 675
the peace; the major; the police magistrate, etc. Unless an officer of this corps has such power granted by the Federal or Provincial Government he cannot legally administer this oath.
I might add here that at the beginning of this war citizens of the United States of America were permitted to join this corps without taking the oath of allegiance and so long as the unit officers were satisfied with his standing; of course a citizen of the United States wishing to join this corps would necessarily have to be residing and working in Canada at the time.
In considering the effect of an oath of allegiance as an act of expatriation under section 401 (b) of the Nationality Act of 1940, which in substance is a reenactment of the above-quoted portion of section 2 of the Act of March 2, 1907, when the oath was taken by a person in connection with his employment by a private firm, this Board said (In re L—- (56107/487) [see
page 317, this volume]):
An oath or formal declaration mentioned by the statutes must mean not only the giving of the oath by the individual but the acceptance of that oath by the foreign state. An oath of allegiance has no real significance unless the oath be made to the state and accepted by the state. Such acceptance on the part of the state must be made in accordance with the laws of that state.
It is clear from this record that the Legion of Frontiersmen was a private organization having no official connection with the Canadian or British Government at the time the appellant joined. The oath taken by him was not required or authorized by Canadian or British law. It was not directed to and accepted by the British Crown. It was purely a private matter between the appellant and the organization. We, therefore, conclude that he did not take an oath of allegiance to a foreign state within the meaning of the Act of March 2, 1907. The appellant has not expatriated himself under any law since his acquisition of American citizenship and must therefore now be admitted as an American citizen.
FINDINGS OF FACT: Upon the basis of all the evidence presented, it is found:
(1) That the appellant was born in the United States on January 3, 1898;
(2) That the appellant, while living in Canada, joined the Legion of Frontiersmen in October 1939;
(3) That the appellant took an oath of allegiance to the British Crown at the time he joined that organization;
(4) That the Legion of Frontiersmen is a private organization having no official connection with the Canadian or British Government;
(5) That the oath taken by the appellant at the time he joined that organization was not required or authorized by Canadian or British law;
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(6) That the appellant seeks admission to the United States as an American citizen.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: Upon the basis of the foregoing findings of fact, it is concluded:
(1) That under section 2 of the Act of March 2, 1907, the appellant did not lose his American citizenship by reason of taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign state;
(2) That under section 13 (a) of the Immigration Act of 1924, the appellant is not inadmissible as an immigrant not in possession of an immigration visa;
(3) That under Executive Order No. 8766 of June 3, 1941, the appellant is not inadmissible as not in possession of a passport.
ORDER: It is ordered that the appeal be sustained and the appellant admitted as an American citizen.
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