Aggravated Felonies

            (D)  Naturalization.  The person may also have acquired U.S. citizenship by naturalization, either by filing his or her own application as an adult, or during the client’s childhood by application of a U.S. citizen parent, generally followed by a swearing-in ceremony.[13]  Until the swearing in has occurred, the person is not a naturalized United States citizen.[14]  Once the person has been sworn in, s/he cannot be deported unless naturalized citizenship is first revoked.[15]  Even then, s/he cannot be deported for convictions occurring prior to denaturalization.[16]

[13] See INA § § 310 et seq., 8 U.S.C. § § 1410 et seq.  This summary was drawn from M. Vargas, Representing Noncitizen Criminal Defendants In New York State, Chapter 2, p. 2-2 (N.Y. State Defender’s Association, Criminal Defense Immigration Project, 2d ed., 2000).

[14] Tovar-Alvarez v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 427 F.3d 1350 (11th Cir. Oct. 13, 2005) (noncitizen must participate in public citizenship ceremony in order to fully naturalize); United States v. Hovsepian, 422 F.3d 883 (9th Cir. Sept. 6, 2005) (district court’s decision to administer oath of citizenship affirmed where district court’s finding that they were persons of Good Moral Character was not clearly erroneous).

[15] U.S. citizenship can be revoked on the basis of certain false statements in the application.  See United States v. Alferahin, 433 F.3d 1148 (9th Cir. Jan. 11, 2006) (conviction of knowingly procuring naturalization contrary to law, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1425(a), reversed for ineffective assistance of counsel since jury instructions were incomplete, and defense attorney declined the court’s offer to instruct the jury on the element of materiality); United States v. Kumpf, 438 F.3d 785 (7th Cir. Feb. 23, 2006) (affirming grant of summary judgment for the government in a denaturalization case where the naturalized individual illegally gained his entry visa by hiding his personal assistance in the persecution of civilians as a Waffen SS guard in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, rejecting equal protection argument).

[16] Costello v. INS, 376 U.S. 120 (1964) (person who was convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude while he was a United States citizen cannot be deported on account of them after he lost his citizenship through denaturalization).