How ICE Agents Reach Denaturalization

During 10 for years, the Investigation Department of the US Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) tried to keep its internal work guidance secret, because, according to many immigration lawyers, it is contrary to US federal immigration laws.

Photo: ICE

The guide was taken on 15 on January 2008 of the year and became public only 14 on February of 2018 on the year, the newspaper writes The Intercept.

It follows from the document that ICE, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, often use a variety of bureaucratic procedures to denature many US citizens.

The 20-page manual contains instructions for agents on how to effectively conduct investigations that lead to denaturalization as soon as possible.

Despite the fact that the persecution of immigrants by the administration of US President Donald Trump has become one of the top topics in the media and society, the issue of denaturation has practically not been raised.

Immigrants can become naturalized US citizens through the processes prescribed in the Immigration and Citizenship Act. To do this, you need to fill out a number of forms, prove your high moral qualities, pass the citizenship exam, and also fulfill a number of other requirements.

The process of denaturalization is based on case law and is aimed at depriving citizenship, and in the future, if possible, and deporting those whose citizenship was revoked.

Immigration lawyer Lance Kurtrai from Texas explained that denaturalization can take two forms: civil and criminal. Criminal denaturalization is usually applied to those who committed fraud in obtaining citizenship, for their criminal activities related to terrorism, drugs, etc., such denaturalization can also lead to imprisonment up to 25 years for the crimes committed.

Civil denaturalization is based on a lower standard of proof of guilt and does not lead to imprisonment. The reasons in this case may be different.

The ICE Guide to Denaturalization defines the responsibilities of different agents, and also provides an extensive list of violations that can lead to denaturalization processes. Agents are advised to file charges on remand, which entail automatic denaturalization, and to avoid charges that will require additional legal process and additional costs for denaturalization.

Agents are warned that in the case of a separate civil lawsuit denaturing the likelihood that the accused’s citizenship will be preserved is much higher, therefore, I advise them to use criminal charges.

If the prosecutor's office does not agree to file a criminal charge, agents are advised to try to negotiate with the defendant, forcing him to agree to civilian denaturalization.

“Although this is not ideal, as civil denaturation does not result in compulsory deportation,” the manual says.

The process of denaturalization is the result of false information indicated by immigrants in the applications and forms they fill out as part of the naturalization process. This false information is not always the key to the approval of the application, but this does not deter the government from trying to revoke citizenship on the basis of these petty false statements.

Harassment of immigration fraud is not new. However, the use of denaturalization as a tactic in this pursuit did not receive much attention until 11 September 2001. After the largest terrorist attack in US history, the government began to review and reassess all tactics to ensure compliance with the national security strategy. After that, the use of denaturalization tactics has greatly expanded and was applied rather harshly and aggressively.

This changed in June 2017, when the Supreme Court ruled that merely distorting the data in the naturalization documents is not enough in itself to deprive a person of his citizenship by bringing criminal charges against him, leading to automatic deportation.

In her decision, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the law allows the government to revoke "a person's citizenship not when he has committed any illegal act in the naturalization process, but only when that act played a role in the decision to naturalize him."

However, this led ICE to simply change its tactics, not the approach.

There is a lower standard for proving civil rather than criminal cases of denaturalization, therefore more attention is now paid to them.

Another advantage the government has in the civil denaturalization process is that in criminal cases the defendant must be provided with a free lawyer if he cannot afford one, a rule that does not apply to civil cases. In addition, there is no right to a jury trial in civil cases. The agent manual also states that “there are no statute of limitations limitations on pursuing civil denaturalization.” In criminal denaturalization cases, there is a ten-year statute of limitations.

According to lawyers, civil cases often end up being accused of surrendering to the strength of the federal government and agreeing to the signing of an agreement involving denaturalization. Long consideration of the case may lead to the fact that the defendant will be forced to pay dozens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal documents and legal services. This often forces those who do not have the necessary funds to capitulate at the beginning of the trial.

After a person loses US citizenship in a civil process, it returns to its original status, which in most cases implies the status of permanent resident (green card holder). In certain cases, deportation may follow, but it is not automatic in this case.

ICE’s public policy has tried to hide from society for many years. The agent’s guide clearly states that if the rules for investigating denaturalization cases are requested by participants in the process, agents should consult with the lawyer of the agency before disclosing the internal rules of the agency.

“If disclosure of this Guide or any portion thereof is required in any judicial or administrative proceeding, legal counsel should be consulted so that appropriate steps can be taken to apply available steps against disclosure of the document,” the guide states.

An ICE spokesman stated that, “in principle, there is nothing unusual in keeping such information secret.”

“It is not unusual for such a training document to be law enforcement sensitive and therefore should not be publicly available,” ICE said.

According to San Diego attorney Catherine Mountain, attempts to hide information from lawyers on all types of immigration cases are typical of the federal government.

“This is typical of the government keeping its cards close to its chest and not telling you what you are looking for and what you are dealing with. We deal with this all the time,” she said.

Mautino noted that the information in the guide could be useful for the defendants and their lawyers. But instead, most immigration lawyers act blindly in court, fighting a bureaucratic institution that says nothing to them.

“They are asking questions that seem to be outside the scope of the case, and we have no idea where they are coming from. Our cases may freeze or drag on, and we will not understand why,” the lawyer noted.

Immigration lawyer from Alaska Margaret Stock believes that the information in the directory should be publicly available, especially in relation to civilian denaturalization. According to her, this is a civil procedure, and therefore statements about secrecy and security do not sound as convincing as in the case of criminal cases. In addition, she stressed that we are talking about the work of the government, and not a private corporation, where there should be no secrecy.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Green card hostages: how to find protection from a sadistic husband and avoid deportation

Five typical reasons for rejecting an application for naturalization

How I became a citizen of America: the process of naturalization from A to Z

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.