Muslims were barred from US citizenship from 1790 to 1944

Evidence

More than two centuries before a “Muslim ban” headlined the New York Times or led to the detainment of thousands of Muslims at airports across the United States, Muslims were statutorily barred from becoming American citizens. They were deemed threatening to and unassimilable within American values and society. In line with the demonization of this entire bloc of immigrants, the courts prohibited Muslim immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens from 1790 to 1944. During this span, Muslim identity, by law, was viewed as contradictory with American citizenship. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 147

Categorization

• XREF: Directly grounds the ‘naturalization era’ that Rana (apparatus) and Selod (surveillance) build on — the legal origin story the reader’s guiding question asks about. — connects to: A 1944 Massachusetts federal case ended the Muslim naturalization ban — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 660; Muslim Americans hold nominal but reduced substantive citizenship — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1344; Muslim citizenship in America is negated by religious identity after crises — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 340 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: Worth checking whether other religious/racial groups faced comparable statutory exclusion windows and how Muslims’ 154-year span compares.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 147

Broader Connections

• Muslim Americans hold nominal but reduced substantive citizenship #expands (0.60) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1344
• Muslim citizenship in America is negated by religious identity after crises #qualifies (0.50) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 340
• The Chinese Exclusion Act barred ethnic Chinese from citizenship and immigration #corroborates (0.40) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 745