Filipino Citizenship

Positively No Filipinos Allowed, Courtesy of Stockton Chapter, Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS)

Overview

The road to Filipino citizenship in the United States was a long and arduous journey. Though the majority of acts regarding citizenship were passed in the twentieth century, the struggle for recognition dates back to the eighteenth century.  

1790

The struggle for citizenship began in 1790, with the passing of the Naturalization Act which granted citizenship for immigrants who were designated as free whites and of good moral character. This act was in effect for nearly one hundred years, though during that time the application of citizenship laws were greatly contested and deliberated.

1865

After the Civil War ended in 1865, Congress passed the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery in the United States which called for the government to re-evaluate who was a citizen.

1870

Five years later citizenship was granted to African Americans in 1870, making African Americans and Free Whites the only groups that qualified for citizenship, thus excluding anyone from Asian or Native American background.

Courtesy of Stockton Chapter, Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS)

Courtesy of Stockton Chapter, Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS)

1899

In 1899, the Filipino American War began as an extension of the Filipino fight for independence and the 1896 revolution.  

1902

After the Filipino American War ended in 1902 and the United States annexed the Philippines, the extent of citizenship was once again deliberated. By the summer of 1902, Congress enacted the Philippine Organic Act permitting the people of the Philippines to travel between the two nations but restricting their citizenship.

1913

By 1913 hundreds of Filipinos had migrated to the United States to work as agricultural laborers though their participation in the work force and continued residency was greatly contested through anti-miscegenation laws, unreasonable working conditions and racism. In 1913 the state of California passed the California Alien Land Law outlawing any alien ineligible for citizenship to own land thus placing Filipino, Chinese, and Japanese migrant workers at a significant disadvantage occupationally and in terms of attaining the rights of a citizen, though at the time Filipinos were classified as nationals not aliens.

Courtesy of Stockton Chapter, Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS)

1924

By 1924, Congress passed yet another act prohibiting citizenship in the form of the National Origins Act which not only upheld the notion that aliens of Asian descent were ineligible for citizenship, but also greatly restricted Asian immigration, making them the scapegoat for fears of unemployment which was high among American citizens.

1934

By the 1930’s the government re-evaluated Philippine immigration and citizenship with the passing of the 1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act. This act not only increased Filipino immigration, but reclassified all Filipinos as aliens instead of nationals which still restricted them from citizenship. When the Second World War started many Filipino Americans found themselves conscripted into the United States Army though their status within the country was still that of an alien. One year into the war the United States Congress passed the Nationality Act in hopes of unifying the continental United States and its territories. The act defined who was eligible for citizenship including those who sought to become citizens through naturalization and through birth. This included Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Puerto Ricans, Hawaiians and those from other territories for the first time but was still limiting in some aspects.