Philadelphia Immigration Lawyer Blog

In yet another example of the possible later effects and great dangers of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has remanded a case involving an adjustment of status applicant who is married to a U.S. citizen but who falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen back in 1998 in order to gain admission to Drexel University as a part-time, evening program. The applicant is in removal proceedings and the government is claiming that he is inadmissible (and therefore cannot adjust his status to permanent residency) because of his prior false claim to U.S. citizenship. The case is Ismail v. Gonzales.

Under the law (INA §212(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I)) person who "falsely represents, or has falsely represented, himself or herself to be a citizen of the United States for any purpose or benefit under this chapter or any other Federal or State law is inadmissible."

The immigration judge ruled that the applicant received a "benefit" under state law when he enrolled as a Drexel student and therefore he is inadmissible and ineligible for adjustment of status. On appeal, the BIA upheld the decision of the IJ but on different grounds -- that the applicant’s false claim had been made to accomplish the "purpose" of gaining admission to college. The Federal Court has remanded the case to the BIA so that it can decide whether the false claim to U.S. citizenship was made to gain a benefit under state or federal law.

The Federal Court did this because under the same court’s opinion in Theodros v. Gonzales, it held that an applicant for adjustment who had made a prior false claim to U.S. citizenship in order to gain employment in the private sector was, in fact, inadmissible and not eligible for adjustment because private employment is a “benefit” under state law. The court’s remand was so that the BIA could consider its decision in light of Theodros.

While the BIA will now reconsider the case, the bottom line is that it is a big mistake for any alien to falsely claim U.S. citizenship. It is a violation of the law and, as we can see in this case, in Theodros and in other cases, it is a mistake that can come back and haunt an applicant years later in circumstances (such as trying to adjust status based on a bona fide marriage to a U.S. citizen) that otherwise would be a straightforward application for permanent residence.