Document Info

DocketNumber: 21-20556

Filed Date: 3/25/2022

Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 3/26/2022

  • Case: 21-20556     Document: 00516254918         Page: 1     Date Filed: 03/25/2022
    United States Court of Appeals
    for the Fifth Circuit                             United States Court of Appeals
    Fifth Circuit
    FILED
    March 25, 2022
    No. 21-20556
    Summary Calendar                       Lyle W. Cayce
    Clerk
    Thy Ngoc Nguyen,
    Plaintiff—Appellant,
    versus
    Wallace L. Carroll, Field Office Director, United
    States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Houston;
    Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S. Department of
    Homeland Security; Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney
    General; United States Citizenship and Immigration
    Services,
    Defendants—Appellees.
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Texas
    USDC No. 4:21-CV-2077
    Before Davis, Jones, and Elrod, Circuit Judges.
    Per Curiam:*
    Appellant, Nguyen, challenges the district court’s order granting
    appellees’ motion to dismiss Nguyen’s suit alleging that he was illegally
    *
    Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this
    opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
    circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
    Case: 21-20556          Document: 00516254918               Page: 2       Date Filed: 03/25/2022
    No. 21-20556
    denied citizenship via naturalization and requesting an order naturalizing
    him. 1 We affirm.
    Petitioner, who was born in Vietnam, has been a permanent resident
    of the United States since June 28, 1990. In October of 1992, Plaintiff was
    convicted in California of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced
    to three years imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
    In 2013 Plaintiff applied to the USCIS for naturalization as a United
    States citizen. His application was denied, and he was placed in removal
    proceedings because his 1992 conviction constituted an “aggravated felony.
    In 2018 Plaintiff again applied for naturalization, and USCIS again denied
    Plaintiff relief because he had been convicted of an “aggravated felony” and
    thus could not be of “good moral character” under the Immigration and
    Nationality Act. (“INA”), 
    8 U.S.C. §§1427
    (a), 1101(f)(8). The denial was
    upheld on administrative appeal to the United States Citizenship and
    Immigration Services.
    Plaintiff then filed this civil action in district court seeking de novo
    review of his denied naturalization application. Defendants responded by
    filing a motion to dismiss the action.
    We agree with the district court that because Nguyen had been
    convicted in California of assault with a deadly weapon in 1992, an aggravated
    felony, he could not be of good moral character as required for naturalization
    under the INA. 
    Id.
    For these reasons and those stated by the district court in its careful
    memorandum opinion and order of September 28, 2021, we AFFIRM the
    district court judgment.
    1
    The district court had jurisdiction to consider this claim under 
    8 U.S.C. § 1421
    (c).
    2