Source: http://openjurist.org/348/us/540
Timestamp: 2015-10-07 02:58:44
Document Index: 15881208

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1101', '§ 1101', '§ 318', '§ 1429', '§ 1429', '§ 405', '§ 1101', '§ 1101', '§ 318', '§ 405', '§ 1251', '§ 1251', '§ 241', '§ 318', '§ 405']

348 US 540 Shomberg v. United States | OpenJurist
348 U.S. 540 - Shomberg v. United States Homethe United States Reports348 U.S.
348 US 540 Shomberg v. United States 348 U.S. 540
75 S.Ct. 509
99 L.Ed. 624
Louis SHOMBERG, Petitioner,v.UNITED STATES of America.
Alan Y. Cole, Washington, D.C., for petitioner.
The precise issue in this proceeding is whether petitioner, who filed his petition for naturalization two days before the effective date of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 66 Stat. 163, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq., 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101 et seq., may compel a final hearing on the same before the determination of deportation proceedings instituted after the effective date of the Act and based solely on grounds initiated by that Act. The 'priority provision' of the Act, § 318, states 'no petition for naturalization shall be finally heard * * * if there is pending against the petitioner a deportation proceeding.' 66 Stat. 244, 8 U.S.C. § 1429, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1429.1 But petitioner claims that the savings clause of the Act, § 405, 66 Stat. 280, 8 U.S.C. § 1101, note, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101 note, which we considered in United States v. Menasche, 348 U.S. 528, 75 S.Ct. 513, preserves his eligibility for citizenship under prior law, and that final hearing thereon cannot be delayed by reason of the pendency of the subsequently instituted deportation action. Both the trial court, 115 F.Supp. 336, and the Court of Appeals, 210 F.2d 82, decided against the petitioner. We granted certiorari, 348 U.S. 811, 75 S.Ct. 24, in order to determine the relationship between § 318 and § 405 of the 1952 Act.
On October 1, 1952, petitioner submitted to the Immigration and Naturalization Service a preliminary application to file a petition for naturalization, Form N—400. Following a preliminary examination, he filed his petition for naturalization on December 22, 1952, two days before the effective date of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The prenaturalization investigation disclosed that petitioner had a criminal record; he had been convicted of grand larceny in 1913 and of manslaughter in 1915. Section 241(a) of the 1952 Act subjects aliens to deportation if they are convicted 'at any time after entry * * * of two crimes involving moral turpitude, not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct.' 66 Stat. 204, 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(4), 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251(a)(4). On June 22, 1953, a warrant of arrest was issued against petitioner, based on his 1913 and 1915 convictions, charging as grounds for deportation petitioner's presence in the country in violation of § 241(a)(4). The deportation proceedings were in progress when on July 28, 1953, petitioner, through an order to show cause filed in this case, moved to compel a final hearing on his petition for naturalization, and, in the interim, to stay the deportation proceedings. Relying on § 318, supra, the district judge denied the motion and the Court of Appeals affirmed.
Petitioner's main argument is that under § 405(a) nothing contained in the new Act, 'unless otherwise specifically provided therein, shall be construed to affect * * * any status, condition, right in process of acquisition * * * done or existing, at the time this Act shall take effect.' Petitioner was eligible for citizenship under the prior law and remains eligible under the new Act. But under the prior law petitioner was not deportab