Immigration / Citizenship Ruling

A U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia recently upheld a lower court ruling that stripped a man of his U.S. citizenship because of crimes he committed while his paperwork was being processed. V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports from our Miami bureau, experts say the case will make it easier for government agencies to pursue naturalized immigrants who have criminal histories.

Some leading authorities on immigration law, such as Professor Stephen Legomsky of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, say government prosecutors were clearly using the Jean-Baptiste case as a test case to set a precedent for future denaturalization proceedings.

"Well before 9/11, starting back in the nineteen-nineties, the government was intensifying its efforts to deport non-U.S. criminal offenders. After 9/11 that drive picked up. Since then it has taken a great deal of time because these proceedings tend to linger a while. My view is that since it takes so much time and effort for the government to bring a denaturalization proceeding, and then, if successful, to bring a subsequent removal proceeding, I have to think that with all their other priorities the government would not have brought this case unless their goal was to test out the strategy for future prosecutions," said Legomsky.

Mr. Legomsky says naturalization is now taking longer because more people are applying to become citizens. He also says people are less hesitant to apply for naturalization because more countries are now allowing dual citizenship, meaning applicants can keep their citizenship in their country of origin. Additionally, he says the government has fewer resources to process the flood of applications, making the process even slower.

•	Immigration / Citizenship Ruling Court Strips Man of US Citizenship, Setting Legal Precedent Voice of America News, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 Byline: Jim Teeple

	Story also ran in 3 others:  TruthNews.com, The State SC and Watchman Herald TX