Legal issues
What rights honorary citizenship bestows, if any, is unclear.
According to State Department documents, it does not grant eligibility
for United States passports.
[1]
In the case of Lafayette, he did not receive honorary citizenship of the United States until 2002, but did become a
natural born citizen during his lifetime. On 28 December 1784, the
Maryland General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Lafayette and his male heirs "forever shall be...natural born Citizens" of the state.
[12] 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.
[13][14][15][2] Lafayette boasted in 1792 that he had become an American citizen before the
French Revolution created the concept of
French citizenship,
[16] and in 1803 and 1804,
President Jefferson offered to make him
Governor of Louisiana.
[17] In 1932, descendant
René de Chambrun established his American citizenship based on the Maryland resolution,
[18][19]
although he was probably ineligible as the inherited citizenship was
likely only intended for direct descendants who were heir to Lafayette's
estate and title.
[20]
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
Elian Gonzalez U.S. citizenship, was suggested in 1999, but was never enacted.
[21]
WIKIPEDIA
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