The Citizenship She Gave Up for Love

Anna Motis Svagera, an American-born woman who lost her citizenship after marrying Czech immigrant John Svagera in 1922

In 1922, my American-born great-grandmother Anna Motis lost her citizenship when she married John Svagera, a Czech immigrant. Their wedding came mere days before the Cable Act began correcting this injustice, but Anna would wait more than sixteen years to become, legally, what she had always been: an American.

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