DENATURALIZATION

Top Denaturalization Attorneys in Detroit

Bajoka Law — Federal Denaturalization Lawyers Fighting for You

WHAT IS DENATURALIZATION?

Denaturalization is the process by which the United States government strips someone of their citizenship. Only naturalized citizens can lose their citizenship through denaturalization. People who are born in the United States are given citizenship by birthright which cannot be taken away because birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Once someone is denaturalized, they are then subject to being deported or removed from the United States. While denaturalization affects someone’s immigration status, denaturalization cases are tried in federal district court, not immigration court. This is an area of law that has become a greater focus in recent years for the federal government. The Department of Justice has recently created a new Denaturalization Section within their civil division whose focus will be on investigating and litigating denaturalization cases. Expect the full force of the federal government in investigating and litigating denaturalization cases.

LEGAL GROUNDS FOR DENATURALIZATION

There are four legal reasons that the United States government would pursue a denaturalization case against a naturalized citizen, they are listed and described below:

LYING OR CONCEALING INFORMATION ON NATURALIZATION PAPERWORK
The information that is provided on a citizenship application must be truthful and complete. If important information such as an applicant’s criminal history or other legal names are misstated or left out of a citizenship application, then the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can initiate a denaturalization case.
MEMBERSHIP IN A SUBVERSIVE OR TERRORIST GROUP
The USCIS will look to revoke a naturalized citizenship completely if they are found to have been a member or a part of any subversive or terrorist group within five years of applying for United States citizenship. Examples of such groups include ISIS or the Nazi party. It is considered a violation of the oath of U.S. allegiance to be a part of such organizations.
REFUSAL TO TESTIFY IN FRONT OF CONGRESS
If the government believes that a naturalized citizen was a member or otherwise a part of a subversive or terrorist group, then that naturalized citizen is required to provide testimony in front of congress if ordered to. This requirement to testify lasts for ten years from the time someone is granted his or her citizenship. Refusing to testify under these circumstances can lead to denaturalization.
DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE FROM THE MILITARY
One method people use to become naturalized as a United States citizen is to serve within a branch of the United States military. A person is required to give at least five years of service honorably in order to cement his or her citizenship in the United States. If someone who is seeking naturalization gets discharged dishonorably before having served five years, then a denaturalization proceeding can take place.

THE DENATURALIZATION PROCESS

A denaturalization case takes place in federal court in the district in which the naturalized citizen last resided. These cases are technically civil cases and not immigration cases, so they will follow all the standard rules of federal civil procedure. Just like other civil cases, the origin of denaturalization case is a formal complaint against the naturalized citizen. That person will have 60 days to respond to the complaint themselves or hire an experienced immigration attorney who can do so on their behalf. Most civil cases have a preponderance of evidence standard, which means that the plaintiff meets their burden if they can prove there is a greater than 50% chance that their claims are true. Criminal cases have a beyond a reasonable doubt standard which is the highest burden proof that exists in law. The USCIS will have to meet a burden higher than most civil cases but lower than criminal cases in order to be successful in denaturalizing a naturalized citizen. Once someone has been denaturalized, they are typically deported soon afterwards.

DEFENSES AND APPEALS

Defenses to denaturalization will always depend on the facts of each case but may include (but are not limited to):

The government is simply wrong, and the allegations are false;
The information submitted on the citizenship application was all true;
There was no specific inquiry about the subject of the allegations;
The concealment was not intentional;
There is a case of mistaken identity in pointing to someone as a member of a subversive or terrorist group;
The dishonorable discharge was improper.

If the District Court who oversees a denaturalization case makes legal errors in deciding a denaturalization case, then there is a process that allows an appeal based on those legal errors. Appeals are highly technical and specific and are not commonly won by those who appeal. If you are at the appeal stage, then you have already missed your best opportunity to win your denaturalization case. Ultimately, your best chance to win your denaturalization case comes with putting forward your strongest case at the beginning with an experienced immigration attorney on your side. You have one chance to do it right.

ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS?

If you or a loved one is facing the possibility of denaturalization or a denaturalization proceeding has already started, you might be asking yourself, what do I do now? Finding a website such as this can be a great resource, but it is not a substitute for the advice of an experienced attorney.

EXPERIENCE MATTERS

Most attorneys have never stepped foot in an immigration courthouse, much less have actually been successful in any immigration-related proceedings. Do you really want your denaturalization case to be the first your attorney has actually defended in court? While the answer to that question might be easy, choosing the right attorney might not be as simple. The right attorney for a denaturalization case is not someone looking to sign up every person that walks through their door. The right attorney for a denaturalization case is one that has the proper experience, time, and resources to put into defending your case against the power of the government. The United States government has unlimited resources when it comes to investigating and building cases. Your first step towards leveling the playing field is hiring an attorney who brings years of successful denaturalization defense experience to the table. At Bajoka Law, we lean on this past experience to help bring future success.

How Being a “Minimal Participant” in a Crime Can Lead to Denaturalization

14 Oct, 2020

You can lose your citizenship without any real due process. If you have questions about the status of your citizenship or denaturalization law, speak to the experienced denaturalization attorneys at Bajoka Law in Detroit. Being a minor participant in a crime can lead to your denaturalization, as evidenced by the case of United States V. Borgono.

Lack of Due Process in Denaturalization Cases

23 Sep, 2020

DUE PROCESS NOT GUARANTEED The process of denaturalization is the process of stripping someone of his or her naturalized United States citizenship. The was a process that used to center around trying to remove Nazis and other war criminals from the United States as they misrepresented who they were in order to gain American citizenship. While this form of citizenship stripping used to be rare, the Trump administration and its disdain for everything related to immigration has led to a sudden and exponential increase of denaturalization cases over the last couple of years. The question here is why denaturalization? Why not charge someone with an immigration crime of some sort that could lead to stripping someone of their citizenship instead? The answer to these questions lies within the actual due process someone gets if they are the subject of a denaturalization action. Denaturalization is a civil action; this means that denaturalization cases follow the same federal rules of civil procedure as any other lawsuit. Since naturalized citizens are not required to update their addresses with the federal government, the federal government can “properly” serve a denaturalization lawsuit simply by leaving it at the naturalized citizen’s last known address. If the naturalized citizen doesn’t show up to court, they lose their case and are denaturalized, even if they had no idea that they were the subject of a denaturalization action. THE CASE OF UNITED STATES V BALJINDER SINGH In late 2017, the federal government pursued a denat uralization case against a man named Baljinder Singh. The government alleged that this man was previously known as Davinder Singh, a man who was ordered to be deported back in 1992. They further alleged that Davinder Singh (using the name Baljinder Singh) married a United States citizen in 1996 and was approved for permanent resident status (green card) in 1998. One would assume that Baljinder Singh could come in and simply prove he’s not Davinder Singh and be on his way. But, since there is no statute of limitations for denaturalization cases like there is for other regular civil cases, the federal government was not only able to bring this case against him some 25 years later, but also serve him in the most minimally acceptable means according to the federal rules. In the case of Baljinder Singh, he did not appear to his denaturalization hearing, and was ordered denaturalized as a default victory to the federal government. Whether Baljinder is actually Davinder was never determined on any facts or evidentiary hearing of any kind. Naturalized citizenship gone just like that, without any real due process to a United States citizen. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME? If you are a naturalized citizen, this can affect you directly. Many tend to believe that once you are awarded United States citizenship through naturalization, you are afforded the same rights as United States citizens that got their citizenship through birthright. This is mostly but not entirely true. As the case of Baljinder Singh has shown us, your citizenship can not only be taken away, it can be done decades later without you even having any knowledge about it. Due process in denaturalization cases is given such a lack of importance that it is truly startling. After reading something like this, it is normal to have questions about the possibility of losing your naturalized citizenship. If you have questions about the potential of being denaturalized or are currently facing the prospect of being denaturalized by the United States government, then it is important to speak to an experienced denaturalization attorney as soon as possible to understand what your options are.

Understanding Cases of Denaturalization

05 Jun, 2020

Supreme Court Rules Unanimously Against Government in Denaturalization Case Cases of Denaturalization require the federal government to prove that a naturalized citizen obtained their citizenship illegally in some way. What that specifically means is that the naturalized citizen became a citizen even though he or she did not truly legally qualify for citizenship status and did not meet the legal requirements to become a citizen. One way to prove this is to try to show that the naturalized citizen illegally procured citizenship or procured citizenship by concealment of a material fact or by some sort of willful misrepresentation to the government relating to obtaining citizenship. ORIGINAL CASE DETAILS The case of Maslenjak v. United States is a landmark denaturalization case that made its way all the way to the United States Supreme Court in 2017. The case originally started as a criminal prosecution against Divna Maslenjak, a refugee from the former country of Yugoslavia due to false statements made by Maslenjak during the naturalization process. Maslenjak and her family fled civil war in Yugoslavia and came to the United States as refugees in 1998. Maslenjak became a United States citizen in 2007 and was later stripped of her citizenship and deported along with her husband for the false statements she admittedly made during the naturalization process. When Maslenjak met with United States immigration officials in 1998, she told the officials that she and her family would be in danger if they went back to the area in Bosnia where they had previously lived before the civil war in Yugoslavia. She falsely told these officials that her husband had not returned to the specific area in Bosnia because he was afraid that he would be forced to join the Bosnian Serb army. Maslenjak’s husband had in fact served in the army, in a specific brigade that took part in a massacre of over 5,000 Bosnian Muslims some three years earlier. The federal government later learned of her husband’s participation in this brigade and initiated proceedings to deport him. When Maslenjak learned of this, she admitted to United States officials that she had lied about her husband’s whereabouts and activity during that time. The federal government then charged Maslenjak with violating a federal law that makes it illegal to knowingly procure U.S. citizenship contrary to any law with an eye towards denaturalization . The jury in Maslenjak’s criminal trial had been instructed that it did not actually matter whether her lie on her on citizenship application was “material” or not because the criminal statute did not specifically address it issue. A material issue is one that would have made a difference in determining Maslenjak’s eligibility for citizenship. Maslenjak admitted that she had lied but argued that she should keep her naturalized citizenship because the lies would not have mattered in deciding whether to grant her citizenship in the first place. Maslenjak was convicted, stripped of her citizenship, and deported to Serbia in 2016. Maslenjak appealed her case, and the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in January of 2017. SUPREME COURT RULES UNANIMOUSLY IN FAVOR OF MASLENJAK In June of 2017, the United States Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Maslenjak stating that if someone is prosecuted for a false statement to government officials during the naturalization process, a jury must decide whether that false statement would have influenced the decision and awarding of citizenship to that individual. The false statement made would have to be “material” to the decision made of awarding citizenship. The Court then remanded the case to the Court of Appeals to determine whether the erroneous jury instruction was harmless error. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth circuit ruled in late 2019 that the jury instruction error was not harmless and remanded the case back to District Court for a new trial. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME? The Supreme Court soundly rejected the government’s argument and reasoning and was very concerned that the government was trying to overreach and too broadly define what a material lie is. This ruling means that not all lies would qualify someone to be denaturalized. A typo or other mistake should not stand as ground for denaturalization. If you are facing the possibility of a denaturalization action due to a misstatement or lie, it is important to seek the advice of a qualified and experienced denaturalization attorney immediately.

Immigrants Concerned about Denaturalization

05 Jun, 2020

The Department of Justice Creates Office to Denaturalize Immigrants DENATURALIZATION SECTION EXPLAINED In late February of 2020, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Denaturalization Section. The Denaturalization Section is an office which will join other existing sections within the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation. The Denaturalization Section was created to focus on investigating and litigating cases of Denaturalization. Denaturalization is a process by which the United States government strips away the citizenship of someone who was naturalized as a United States citizen. These cases of Denaturalization can arise from foreign nationals becoming a United States citizen under false pretenses in a variety of ways. These false pretenses include things like fraud, being a sex offender, war criminal, or even a suspected terrorist. The aim of the Denaturalization section is to pursue those they suspect have unlawfully obtained citizenship status and try to strip away their naturalized citizenship. Denaturalization cases do not have a statute of limitations; that means that a case for Denaturalization can occur at any time, no matter how long you have been a naturalized United States citizen. Previously, denaturalization was primarily used by the Department of Justice as a measure to go after those who threatened national security, but the newly formed denaturalization section aims to go after anyone who appears to have obtained citizenship through some unlawful measure. WHAT’S NEXT? Critics of this new Denaturalization Section assert that this new office will be used to target immigrants who have not committed serious crimes and may have made mistakes on their initial applications without any fraudulent intent. There is a fear that simply the creation of this office will have a serious effect on non-citizens that have obtained a green card but may fear applying for citizenship and fully engaging in the United States as a citizen. With the staunch anti-immigration policies currently in place under this administration, this is not an unfounded fear by any stretch. This administration has routinely created travel bans and disallowed non-citizens to enter the United States for a variety of stated reasons. The Denaturalization Section is another step in the efforts to slow immigration into the United States. 228 denaturalization cases have been pursued since 2008, with 40% of those cases filed since 2017. Over the past three years, denaturalization cases have increased by 600%. These cases are only expected to increase as there are about 20 million naturalized citizens living in the United States today. To put it simply, if you weren’t born here in the United States and earned your citizenship by birthright, you will always have to look over your shoulder as a naturalized citizen as long as the denaturalization section is around. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME? If you are a naturalized United States citizen, this affects you directly. A naturalized United States citizen can be denaturalized if the federal government proves by clear and convincing evidence that the naturalized citizen was not qualified for naturalization at the time it was mistakenly granted. The federal government can also pursue a criminal case relating to immigration fraud as another method to denaturalize United States citizens. Millions of dollars have been put behind this newly formed Denaturalization section, and it is a fair assessment that denaturalization proceedings will become more common and frequent in the near future. If you are facing a denaturalization action or an allegation of immigration fraud, it is important to seek the advice of a qualified and experienced denaturalization attorney immediately. If you have any questions related to denaturalization or your status as a United States citizen, then give us a call.