Thomas Jolley

Thomas Glenn Jolley (January 26, 1944 – March 20, 2014) was an anti-Vietnam War protester who renounced his U.S. citizenship in Canada. Soon after his renunciation, Jolley crossed back into the U.S. and began working in Florida. A U.S. federal court ruled that he was deportable, but the Immigration and Naturalization Service could not actually deport him to Canada because he had lost his Canadian-landed immigrant status. He died in Asheville, North Carolina, at the age of 70. Early life and renunciation Jolley was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He grew up in Bremen, Georgia, and went on to attend the University of Georgia before transferring to the Georgia Institute of Technology; he initially hoped to study to become an architect, but he later changed his course of study to journalism. He registered for the Selective Service System and was given a II-S student deferment. He married Margaret Elizabeth Thompson of Atlanta on November 6, 1966. In January or February 1967, he withdrew from university. He attempted to obtain 1-O conscientious objector status, but was denied, and was instead classified 1-A (available for induction). After twice being ordered to report for induction, he was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in February 1967 and charged with violating the Selective Service Act. He then crossed the border into Canada with his American wife, obtained landed immigrant status there (though not Canadian citizenship), and in May went to the United States Consulate in Toronto and renounced his citizenship. His oath of renunciation was signed before U.S. Consul Richard J. Dols. Deportation case Jolley later returned to the United States, apparently via Detroit. He then went south and began working as a news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat in Tallahassee, Florida, while his wife enrolled in graduate school at Florida State University. After the news of his situation went public, Democrat managing editor William Phillips, who made the decision to hire Jolley, commented that the paper had received equal numbers of letters of support and hate mail for its decision not to fire Jolley. The U.S. government ordered Jolley deported, but he did not depart the country voluntarily, and so on February 22, 1968, he was again arrested by FBI agents. He was released on a $3,000 bond pending formal deportation proceedings against him. U.S. media described him as a "draft evader".