Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-03-03177/USCOURTS-ca8-03-03177-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
John Ashcroft
Respondent
Michael Negele
Petitioner
Thomas Ridge
Respondent

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 03-3177 

___________

Michael Negele, *

*

Petitioner, *

*

v. * Petition for Review of 

* an Order of the Board of

* Immigration Appeals.

John Ashcroft, Attorney General *

of the United States; Thomas Ridge, *

Director of Homeland Security, * 

 *

Respondents. *

___________

Submitted: April 13, 2004

 Filed: June 1, 2004

___________

Before WOLLMAN, HANSEN, and BYE, Circuit Judges.

___________

BYE, Circuit Judge.

Michael Negele appeals the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals

(BIA) dismissing his appeal of an order directing his removal to Romania pursuant

to the Holtzman Amendment, 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(E)(i). This Amendment

mandates the removal of any person who, in association with Nazi Germany or its

allies during World War II, ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the

persecution of any person because of race, religion, national origin, or political

opinion. We affirm.

Appellate Case: 03-3177 Page: 1 Date Filed: 06/01/2004 Entry ID: 1772678 
1

For purposes of this opinion, we provide only a general description of the

facts. A more thorough discussion of the facts may be reviewed in the panel opinion

in the denaturalization proceedings, United States v. Negele, 222 F.3d 443, 445-46

(2000).

-2-

I

A. Factual Background1

Negele, ethnically German, was born in Romania in 1920. During World War

II, Negele served in the Death's Head unit of the Waffen Schutzstaffel (SS), which

was responsible for operating and guarding concentration camps. In this capacity,

Negele guarded civilian prisoners at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and at

Theresienstadt, an internment camp that held Jews and other prisoners awaiting

transport to the death camps. Specifically, Negele policed the exterior of these camps

with his guard dog, preventing prisoner escapes. 

Following the War, Negele obtained United States citizenship by concealing

his wartime service in the SS. He now resides in St. Peters, Missouri.

B. Procedural Background

In 1997, the government filed a complaint seeking to revoke Negele's

citizenship, which ultimately proved to be successful. See United States v. Negele,

222 F.3d 443, 447-48 (8th Cir. 2000). 

On March 5, 2001, the government filed a Notice to Appear (NTA) charging

that Negele was subject to removal pursuant to the Holtzman Amendment, 8 U.S.C.

§ 1182(a)(3)(E)(i). The NTA alleged Negele ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise

participated in the persecution of persons because of race, religion, national origin or

political opinion between March 23, 1933, and May 8, 1945, under the direction of

Appellate Case: 03-3177 Page: 2 Date Filed: 06/01/2004 Entry ID: 1772678 
-3-

or in association with the Nazi government of Germany. Immigration Judge Bruce

W. Solow entered a decision and order directing Negele be removed to Romania.

This decision was based on the evidence presented by the government at Negele's

denaturalization trial. On August 28, 2003, the BIA dismissed Negele's appeal of the

immigration judge's order. This appeal followed.

II

This court reviews for substantial evidence the factual findings underlying the

BIA's denial of an appeal. Regalado-Garcia v. INS, 305 F.3d 784, 787 (8th Cir.

2002). Those findings must be upheld if they are supported by "reasonable,

substantial, and probative evidence, based on the record as a whole." Valioukevitch

v. INS, 251 F.3d 747, 749 (8th Cir. 2001). We review the BIA's legal determinations

de novo, "according substantial deference to the [BIA's] interpretation of the statutes

and regulations it administers." Regalado-Garcia, 305 F.3d at 787 (citing Tang v.

INS, 223 F.3d 713, 718 (8th Cir. 2000)).

The government is required to establish by clear and convincing evidence

Negele is subject to removal. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(3)(A). Title 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)

provides an alien "shall . . . be removed" if he falls within one or more of a specified

class of deportable aliens. The NTA in this case charged that Negele was removable

under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(D), which mandates the removal of any alien described

in clause (i) or (ii) of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(E), the Holtzman Amendment. 

The Holtzman Amendment states at subsection (i):

Any alien who, during the period beginning on March 23, 1933, and

ending on May 8, 1945, under the direction of, or in association with –

(I) the Nazi government of Germany,

Appellate Case: 03-3177 Page: 3 Date Filed: 06/01/2004 Entry ID: 1772678 
-4-

(II) any government in any area occupied by the military forces of the

Nazi government of Germany,

(III) any government established with the assistance or cooperation of

the Nazi government of Germany, or

(IV) any government which was an ally of the Nazi government of

Germany,

ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the

persecution of any person because of race, religion,

national origin, or political opinion is inadmissible [to the

United States].

Congress enacted the Holtzman Amendment in 1978 to ensure "that the United

States is not a haven for individuals who assisted the Nazis in the brutal persecution

and murder of millions of people." Schellong v. INS, 805 F.2d 655, 662 (7th Cir.

1986).

It is undisputed both Sachsenhausen and Theresienstadt were places of

persecution where Jewish civilians and political prisoners were forcibly confined

under hideous and often deadly conditions solely because of their race or religion.

Thus, the primary question in this case is whether Negele's dog-handling and guard

duties constitute assistance in persecution under the terms of the Holtzman

Amendment. 

Negele contends his duties were entirely limited to dog-handling and therefore

he does not fit the description of persons who are intended to be deported under the

Holtzman Amendment. The crux of his position is: because the record does not

reflect he ever shot at prisoners or took any other direct action to persecute them he

did not participate in persecution under the terms of the Holtzman Amendment. We

disagree, and believe the BIA properly found the documentary evidence and

Appellate Case: 03-3177 Page: 4 Date Filed: 06/01/2004 Entry ID: 1772678 
-5-

testimony from the denaturalization trial established that as an armed ghetto and

concentration camp guard for the SS Death's Head Battalion Negele assisted in Nazi

persecution. Therefore, he is subject to removal under the Holtzman Amendment. 

Although the Eighth Circuit has not previously addressed the specific issue

presented in this case, our conclusion is supported by the overwhelming weight of

authority emanating from other circuit courts which have addressed the issue. See

Tittjung v. Reno, 199 F.3d 393, 398 (7th Cir. 1999) (concluding Tittjung's service as

an armed SS Death's Head Battalion concentration camp guard constituted assisting

in persecution within the meaning of the Holtzman Amendment); Hammer v. INS,

195 F.3d 836, 843 (6th Cir. 1999) (upholding a removal order against a former SS

Death's Head Battalion guard); Kalejs v. INS, 10 F.3d 441, 444 (7th Cir. 1993) ("The

Holtzman Amendment's non-criminal provision thus makes assistance in persecution

an independent basis for deportation, and assistance may be inferred from the general

nature of the person's role in the war") (emphasis in original); Kairys v. INS, 981 F.2d

937, 943 (7th Cir. 1992) (stating that as effective aiders and abettors of the [Nazi]

conspiracy the armed guards are subject to deportation under the Holtzman

Amendment); Kulle v. INS, 825 F.2d 1188, 1192 (7th Cir. 1987) ("Because the

statute authorizes deportation of anyone who 'assisted' in persecution, personal

involvement in atrocities need not be proven."); Schellong, 805 F.2d at 661 ("Nazi

concentration camps were places of persecution; individuals who, armed with guns,

held the prisoners captive . . . with threats of death or capital punishment cannot deny

that they aided the Nazis in their program of racial, political and religious

oppression.").

In support of his position the Holtzman Amendment requires particularized

proof of individual atrocities by him, or evidence that he volunteered for service as

an SS Death's Head Battalion Guard, Negele primarily relies on the case of

Petkiewytsch v. INS, 945 F.2d 871 (6th Cir. 1991). In Petkiewytsch, the Sixth Circuit

Appellate Case: 03-3177 Page: 5 Date Filed: 06/01/2004 Entry ID: 1772678 
-6-

decided service at the German labor camp did not satisfy the requirements for

deportability under the Holtzman Amendment. 

In Petkiewytsch the individual was forced to work as a civilian labor guard

under threat of imprisonment or execution (and was actually imprisoned for failing

to adequately perform his duties); served at the least repressive type of Nazi camp;

served reluctantly and at a young age and had not engaged in any persecution of a

particular person. Id. at 880-81. Considering these mitigating factors, the court

reasoned such language included in the legislative history of the Holtzman

Amendment might require active participation in persecution going beyond

assistance. Id. at 880. 

Petkiewytsch does not control our decision in this case, because, among other

reasons, it is limited to the unique mitigating facts of the case. In the later case of

Hammer v. INS, 195 F.3d 836 (6th Cir. 1999), the Sixth Circuit concluded Hammer,

a Death's Head Battalion guard, could be removed under the Holtzman Amendment.

The court explained:

Petkiewytsch thus appears to stand for the proposition that some forms

of 'assistance' to the Nazi regime (such as membership, without more, in

an organization which cooperated with the Nazis) may be too attenuated

to be considered 'under the direction of, or in association with' the Nazi

government. We do not believe that Petkiewytsch compels the

conclusion that 'assistance' to the Nazi regime can never be sufficient for

deportation under the Holtzman Amendment, because such an

interpretation would be squarely at odds with the text of the statute.

Id. at 844.

It should also be noted the mitigating factors in Petkiewytsch are not present

in this case. The district court in the denaturalization proceedings specifically

Appellate Case: 03-3177 Page: 6 Date Filed: 06/01/2004 Entry ID: 1772678 
-7-

rejected Negele's claims of being drafted into the Waffen SS as unbelievable, and

found Negele served voluntarily as an SS Death's Head Battalion guard.

We conclude that by impeding prisoners' escape through his presence as an

armed SS Death's Head Battalion Guard, Negele was actively and personally involved

in persecution. By guarding the perimeters of the camps with a trained guard dog to

ensure prisoners did not escape from life-threatening conditions, Negele contributed

to the persecution which occurred in these facilities. There is little doubt the

prisoners within the facilities Negele patrolled with his dog (trained to "tear to pieces

anyone else except the trainer") would have considered him as part of the Nazi

machine which kept them at death’s gate.

III

We deny Negele's petition for review and affirm the opinion and order of the

BIA.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 03-3177 Page: 7 Date Filed: 06/01/2004 Entry ID: 1772678