Thus German civilians were legally still considered enemy nationals for a long period. This state of affairs had some peculiar results: for instance marriages between white U.S. soldiers and white German women were not permitted until December 1946.[18] (The U.S. Army at the time still prohibited interracial marriages, so black soldiers had to wait until 1948.[citation needed]) In January 1946 the Swedish Red Cross was permitted to send food to Germany, but earlier attempts by relief agencies to send food had been blocked by the US Treasury Department under the Trading with the Enemy Act 1917, and U.S. troops had been under orders not to share their food rations with German civilians.[19]