1998 Decisions

Opinions of the United

States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit

3-12-1998

Lacap v. INS

Precedential or Non-Precedential:

Docket 97-3322

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Recommended Citation

"Lacap v. INS" (1998). 1998 Decisions. Paper 45.

http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_1998/45
Filed March 12, 1998 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT 

No. 97-3322 

RICARDO MANLAPAZ LACAP, 

 Petitioner 

v. 

IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION SERVICE, 

 Respondent 

On Petition for Review of a 

Decision and Order of the 

Board of Immigration Appeals 

(Bd. No. A73 558 974 -- Newark) 

Submitted under Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) 

March 9, 1998 

BEFORE: GREENBERG, SCIRICA, and ALDISERT, 

Circuit Judges 

(Filed: March 12, 1998) 

 Elly V. Pamatong 

 198 Broadway 

 New York, NY 10038 

 Attorney for Petitioner 
 Frank W. Hunger 

 Assistant Attorney General 

 David M. McConnell 

 Assistant Director 

 Stephen W. Funk 

 Senior Litigation Counsel 

 Michael P. Lindemann 

 Vernon B. Miles 

 Office of Immigration Litigation 

 Civil Division 

 U.S. Department of Justice 

 P.O. Box 878 

 Ben Franklin Station 

 Washington, D.C. 20044 

 Attorneys for Respondent 

OPINION OF THE COURT 

PER CURIAM. 

Petitioner Ricardo Manlapaz Lacap was born on January 

23, 1951, in the Philippines, where he resided until 1991 

when he illegally entered the United States. His parents, 

Fausto B. Lacap and Maria Manlapaz, were born in the 

Philippines during the time it was a territorial possession of 

the United States between December 10, 1898, and July 4, 

1946. 

In deportation proceedings instituted against Lacap, he 

conceded that he was a citizen of the Philippines and was 

subject to deportation. He nevertheless contended that he 

should be granted asylum and the withholding of 

deportation under sections 208(a) and 243(h) of the

Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. S1158(a) 

and 1253(h). The immigration Judge denied Lacap's request 

on September 25, 1995, and, on Lacap's appeal, the Board 

of Immigration Appeals sustained that result on May 14, 

1997. 

Lacap then filed a timely petition for review with this 

court on June 12, 1997. In the proceedings before this 

court, Lacap does not challenge the administrative denial of 

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his applications for asylum and the withholding of 

deportation. Rather, he explains that the "only issue in this 

case is: whether [his] parents were born in the `United 

States' within the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth 

Amendment." Br. at 43. He makes an intricate argument 

contending that they were born in the United States and 

thus were citizens of the United States. Accordingly, he 

contends that he is a citizen of the United States by birth 

and cannot be deported. 

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 

in Rabang v. INS, 35 F.3d 1449, 1454 (9th Cir. 1994), cert. 

denied, 115 S.Ct. 2554 (1995), examined the issue raised in 

these proceedings and concluded that "Supreme Court

precedent compels a conclusion that persons born in the 

Philippines during the territorial period were not`born . . . 

in the United States,' within the meaning of the Citizenship 

Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and are thus not 

entitled to citizenship by birth." We agree with the result 

and reasoning of the court in Rabang and note that the 

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 

recently has followed Rabang as well. See Valmonte v. INS, 

1998 WL 54575 (2d Cir. Feb. 11, 1998). Consequently, it 

follows that Lacap is not entitled to relief in these 

proceedings. 

In view of the aforesaid, we will deny the petition for 

review of the decision and order of May 14, 1997, of the 

Board of Immigration Appeals. 

A True Copy: 

Teste: 

 Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals 

 for the Third Circuit 

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