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NO PASSPORT TILL 1958 In 1950, Robeson was asked to sign a statement guaranteeing not to give any speeches while outside the U.S. and to sign an affidavit that he was not a Communist
When Robeson refused, the State Department declined to reconsider his passport application and took away his passport and his freedom to travel outside the United States.
The travel ban ended in 1958 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Secretary of State had no right to deny a passport or require any citizen to sign an affidavit