Opinion ID: 173655
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Ninth Circuit's decision in Gallarde

Text: In Gallarde, the Ninth Circuit addressed a challenge to the application of INA § 315 with regard to an alien who had enlisted in the Armed Forces. That statute, as mentioned earlier, bars an alien from becoming a U.S. citizen if he or she was either discharged or found exempt from serving in the Armed Forces based on his or her status as an alien. Specifically, the applicable portion of the statute reads as follows: [A]ny alien who applies or has applied for exemption or discharge from training or service in the Armed Forces or in the National Security Training Corps of the United States on the ground that he is an alien, and is or was relieved or discharged from such training or service on such ground, shall be permanently ineligible to become a citizen of the United States. INA § 315(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1426(a). The Ninth Circuit found the term training or service in the Armed Forces to be ambiguous. Gallarde, 486 F.3d at 1141. After a lengthy review of the legislative history regarding INA § 315, that court concluded that the term referred only to aliens drafted by the Armed Forces, not to aliens who voluntarily enlisted. Id. at 1141-49. The court accordingly held that aliens who voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces and then sought discharge on the basis of alienage were not permanently barred from achieving U.S. citizenship. Id. at 1143, 1149. Considering that the United States suspended the military draft in 1973 ( see Doug Bandow, Tracing Volunteer Military Service, The Washington Times, Dec. 23, 2009, at A15), so that presumably all aliens now serving in the Armed Forces voluntarily enlisted, the Ninth Circuit's ruling has broad implications. Because of Gallarde, legal aliens serving in the Armed Forces, at least those living within the Ninth Circuit, are not permanently barred from U.S. citizenship should they seek to be discharged on the basis of alienage. Gallarde 's interpretation of INA § 315 was a first in the over 50-year history of that statute. See Dicicco v. U.S. Dept. of Justice INS, 873 F.2d 910, 913 (6th Cir. 1989) (explaining generally that [i]t is not disputed that [INA § 315] bars citizenship for persons who receive a military discharge based on alienage). No other court has joined the Ninth Circuit in its interpretation of INA § 315, and the government stated at oral argument that it believes Gallarde to have been wrongly decided.