British Expatriate Network

I know the US hate the Cuban Government but am I the only one that sees this case as being wrong?

http//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070227/ts_nm/usa_cuba_spies_dc

I don't know. I think they're nasty little spies and deserved it.

As far as I am concerned, yes you are.

How would you have felt about it if they had been Russians, informing on other Russian emigres during the cold war?

They were not actually charged with violating the oath but with being unregistered foreign spys (and yes if you are foreign spy in America you are legally required to register as such witht he federal government).

I see nothing wrong with the US action. There behavior may have been a minor threat to national security, but all the same there actions were reasonably calculated to inflict harm on someone somewhere.

If they had been charge with violating the oath, that would have been a little more troubling as it would undermine dual citizenships and many people only become US citizens on the understanding they can keep their original nationality too.

From memory. A Jew came from Europe and became a citizen, commited a crime and ran to Israel and claimed citizenship there. The government tried to remove his US citizenship, on the grounds that he was not permitted to take another and be a dual. But the Supreme Court said no.

Cuba was cool in the cold war when it was a symbol of freedom standing up against the tryanny of American imperialism, but now, apart from the bizarre obsession of the Americans, who cares? It's just a rather rundown little caribbean island. I'd much rather go to Antigua or Barbados.

That's the way I was reading it - that they betrayed the oath they pledged when they became US citizens. Specifically the last paragraph where it states "U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta said the couple betrayed the oath they took when they became U.S. citizens, which required them to renounce all allegiance to the government of their homeland."

I looked up the indictment online. They were charged with espionage, not violation of the oath. I'm not even sure 'violation of the oath' is an offense in and of itself. It may be that you would get charged with something more generic.
However, there are provisions to revoke citizenship and the US might seek to do so now, following the convictions.

Here's the case where a man took israeli citizenship after gaining US citizenship, and th SC ruled that he could renew his USA passport.

http//www.richw.org/dualcit/cases.html#Afroyim

"The basic point of the Supreme Court's ruling in Afroyim v. Rusk was that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution -- while originally intended mainly to guarantee citizenship to freed Negro slaves and their descendants -- had effectively elevated citizenship to the status of a constitutionally protected right. Hence, Congress had no right to pass a law which had the effect of depriving an American of his citizenship without his assent."

So the Oath, is not legally binding.

I guess the interesting legal point (yes there is such a thing) would be that if you took the oath knowing that you were not going to keep to it, would you be obtaining citizenship by fraud. If so could said citizenship be revoked as in the cases of those who lie on the applications?

Absolutely, if your fingers were crossed, it doesn't count.

Oaths of allegiance, as with nuclear non-proliferation pacts, are valid until rescinded, abrogated, or otherwise ditched.

As rob s said they were basically operating for another foriegn power i.e spies involved in espionage.. Not sure if the American guy that is now away for life your selling US sub secrets to the chinese was charged under the same offence.

the judge may have said in passing they betrayed their oath. Now people seem to be taking it out of the context in which it was meant. Papers are really good at doing that lol

I think as spies they are lucky they only got a few years in prison.
They have put a lot of peoples lives at risk.
Never mind that they used their prominent positions to assist in their spying.