Aliens – Denaturalization – Requirement that the Governmnet be Deceived in Naturalization Proceeding as Basis for Denaturalization

Defendant Umberto Anastasio, arrived in this country as a deserting seaman in 1917. A certificate of registry was granted in 1931 upon the fraudulent allegation in his application and testimony before an immigration inspector that he had never been arrested. After filing other papers necessary for naturalization, defendant was issued a certificate of arrival in 1933 based on the certificate of registry. Before obtaining citizenship, however, defendant executed an affidavit which revealed his criminal record and filed a consent of dismissal of his petition for naturalization in 1935. In 1942, while in the United States Army, defendant applied for naturalization and fully revealed his previous criminal record. A new certificate of arrival was issued in 1943 based upon the 1931 certificate of registry. In 1943, the Common Pleas Court of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, admitted the defendant to citizenship upon the recommendation of an Immigration and Naturalization Service examiner who had interviewed the defendant, was aware of his previous criminal record, had a file containing the 1931-1935 naturalization proceeding, but lacked the registry file. In a denaturalization proceeding in 1952, defendant’s certificate of naturalization was cancelled and the order admitting him to citizenship revoked on the ground that the certificate of arrival granted in 1943 was based upon the void certificate of registry issued in 1931 and that the use of the latter certificate in the 1943 naturalization proceeding was fraud on the court. On appeal, held, reversed, one judge dissenting. Although the defendant had concealed his criminal record in a prior naturalization proceeding, his disclosure in the 1942 proceeding estopped the government from claiming that citizenship has been granted because of the practice of fraud or illegality. United States v. Anastasio, (3d Cir. 1955) 226 F. (2d) 912, cert. den. (U.S. 1956) 76 S.Ct. 787.