Revocation of US Citizenship.

[floridapete]

See: Thread below linky did not work

[pegasus]

cant read it as available to registered readers only

B rgds

Neil

[floridapete]

So register !

It's just a little harder to register for Top-Forums than for Expats Voice.

A lot of Expats members are also Top Forums members.

[Susie]

Hi Peter,

He may not be allowed to register as the site is mainly for villas owners so I have posted the text for the benefit of all

Posting made as follows

I recently learned of the saga of Mr. Lionel Baptiste. Mr. Baptiste came to the United States in 1980. He worked in a variety of odd jobs and came to be a cashier in a small restaurant in Miami. Through hard work and accumulating his savings, Mr. Baptiste was able to purchase the restaurant from his employer and made it into a successful Caribbean style eatery. Eventually Mr. Baptiste applied for and received US citizenship.

In March, 1995, while at his restaurant, Miami police agents decided to send an undercover agent to Mr. Baptiste's restaurant to inquire if he would sell drugs to the agent. Mr. Baptiste informed the agent that he did not sell illicit drugs and the agent left. The agent then returned to ask if Baptiste knew where in the neighborhood such drugs could be purchased. Mr. Baptiste then took the agent out onto the sidewalk and pointed down the street to a seedier part of the neighborhood. Six months later, Mr. Baptiste found himself under an indictment for being an accessory to illegal drug sales.

Suddenly Mr. Baptiste found that the US government decided to "revoke" his citizenship and to deport him. But Mr. Baptiste found that France refused to take him and various other countries declined to accept him as well. As Mr. Baptiste said, "Every day, when I wake up, I see myself here and I feel like I'm in hell".

I was under the impression that once citizenship was achieved that it became a "vested right" as it were. However in post 9/11, so many things seem to be changing. Perhaps one of our immigration luminaries on here can shed some light on whether the government can successfully divest a naturalized citizen of his/her US citizenship?

[Susie]

This posting came a bit of a bolt out of the blue. thought Citizens were safe


Not that I would ever break any laws but thought citzens were safe for life from being deported, just goes to show

[punky]

As far as I know it, adopted citizenship can always be revoked, no matter the country, providing birth citizenship is still active. However, birth citizenship shouldn't be able to be revoked, only voluntarily reqlinished. There is one notable exception to the rule: Osama Bin Laden, who had his Saudi citizenship stripped from him.

There is this article. (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/haiti/15965738.htm) According to Haitian law, adopting another citizenship, automatically means you reliquish your Haitian one. So the US shouldn't be able to strip his citizenship.

The U.S. government can try to change Haiti's stance by appealing to higher authorities in Port-au-Prince, or try to find a third country willing to take Jean-Baptiste.

If that fails, U.S. immigration authorities will have to release Jean-Baptiste -- unless officials classify him a danger to the community. A 2001 U.S. Supreme Court ruling bars indefinite detention for noncitizens who cannot be deported, though it exempts cases of ``special circumstance.''

Not sure about this special circumstance malarky, but looks like he'll remain in the US if he can't go elsewhere. Incidently

I am suprised he doesn't just apply to come to Britain. We take in much worse. And unlike France, we respect EU law. If he arrived at a EU country (except in France, it looks like) then will be able to claim asylum because his human rights would be infringed if he was deported (right to free movement, etc, right to reside, etc)