The State Department responded promptly, claiming that Puerto Rican citizenship did not exist independent of American citizenship, and in 1998, the department rescinded its recognition of his renunciation of citizenship.
12.
J . Leroy Johnson ( R-CA ) thus moved an amendment to the bill to allow the Attorney General to consider all statements of renunciation of citizenship as far back as October 1940.
13.
Some sources claim that Pollard then Attorney General to process renunciations of citizenship from persons physically present in the United States, and under, it is not possible for a person to lose U . S . citizenship while physically present in the United States except by renunciation filed with the Attorney General, or conviction of treason.
14.
An "'expatriation tax "'or "'emigration tax "'is a tax on persons who cease to be domicile or habitual residence; in the United States, which is one of only two countries ( Eritrea is the other ) to tax its overseas citizens, the tax is applied upon renunciation of citizenship on top of all taxes previously paid.
15.
In support, Clair Engle ( D-CA ) pointed to the refusal of 5, 376 internees to " swear unqualified allegiance to the United States and renounce Japan " as an example of the type of alleged renunciations of citizenship which the original bill failed to consider, while Bertrand W . Gearhart ( R-CA ) noted that many internees who had earlier expressed enthusiasm for Japan were less vocal due to the defeats the country had suffered in battle and urged that their statements not go unpunished.
