Lets move on. Krause should be deported back to Canada.
Court Says INS Can Revoke Citizens
By BOB EGELKO
.c The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Federal immigration authorities can revoke an immigrant's naturalized citizenship if it was obtained by fraud, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The 2-1 ruling by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision of a Seattle judge who said the power of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to revoke citizenship for fraud was open to serious question.
The case arose from a class-action lawsuit that challenged the INS's authority to revoke the citizenship of immigrants who failed to disclose their past arrests. The immigrants argued that only a court could revoke their citizenship.
A 1990 law authorized the INS to grant citizenship to qualified immigrants, a power that was previously handled by the courts. But the INS said the power to grant citizenship included the power to revoke it as well, although that was not expressly stated in the wording of the statute.
On Friday, the appeals court said the power to revoke was implicit in the power to naturalize.
The Seattle federal judge, in ruling against the INS, had halted revocation proceedings involving fraud until the class-action lawsuit could be tried. Those can now go forward.
Jonathan S. Franklin, a lawyer for the immigrants, said he would appeal by asking for a hearing before the full appellate court. The case effects about 4,500 people.
''Citizenship is among a person's most cherished rights,'' he said. ''This is the first time any court has ever held that the INS may take that right away on its own, without going before a judge.''
INS spokeswoman Elaine Komis said the agency had not seen the ruling and would not comment.
AP-NY-06-04-99 2058EDT
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. |
