Opinion ID: 2976918
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Immigration to the United States

Text: In March 1949, Kalymon requested that the United States Displaced Persons Committee (“DPC”) qualify him as a “displaced person” under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, Pub. L. No. 80-774, ch. 647, 62 Stat. 1009 (“DPA”), so that he would be eligible to immigrate to the United States. On his application, Kalymon stated that he was employed in Kavanca, Poland from 1939 until 1943 and that from 1943 to 1944 he attended vocational school in Lwow, Poland. Based upon the information that Kalymon submitted, the DPC declared him an eligible displaced person. Kalymon subsequently applied for a visa in April 1949 to enter the United States. In his application, Kalymon stated that he resided in Komantscha, Poland from 1939 to August 1943 and in Lemberg, Poland from 1943 to 1944. He listed his occupation as “shop assistant,” but made no mention of his service in the UAP. He later explained that he lied because he was fearful of being repatriated to the Soviet Union. Regarding the absence of any information about Kalymon’s past involvement in the UAP, Mario DeCapua, then-head of the Security Investigations Division of the DPC, testified that although the UAP was not on the Inimical List (a list of organizations whose members were ineligible under the DPA), membership in organizations not named on the list could be a disqualifying factor under the DPA. DeCapua also testified that any wartime activities were to be noted in a report to the DPC. Likewise, William Arket, a former United States Army Counterintelligence Corps agent who investigated Kalymon’s background, testified that had Kalymon reported his wartime service in the UAP, it would have been reported because employment in a police force in Nazi-occupied territory was considered a negative factor. Finally, Kenneth Smith, former United States Department of State Vice Consul, testified that information that an applicant had served in a police force in an area occupied by Nazi forces, if known to the Vice Consul, would have tended to affect the decision regarding eligibility. Based on the information that Kalymon supplied to authorities, the United States Consulate in Munich, Germany issued him a visa under the DPA. In May 1949, Kalymon used his visa to enter the United States. After petitioning for naturalization in September 1955, Kalymon received a certificate of naturalization on October 11, 1955. No. 07-1965 United States v. Kalymon Page 5 E. The Government Brought Denaturalization Proceedings Against Kalymon After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States gained access to previously unaccessible World War II-era archives. Among these archives were records implicating a number of immigrants to the United States who had hid their Axis military service or activities assisting the Axis powers. Government investigators eventually uncovered records that called into question Kalymon’s entry into the United States as a displaced person under the DPA. In 2004, the Government filed a civil complaint against Kalymon seeking to revoke his citizenship and to cancel his certificate of naturalization. The Government brought four claims against him, any one of which would have been a sufficient ground for relief. In Count I, the Government contended that Kalymon’s service in the UAP amounted to assistance in the persecution of civilians, rendering him ineligible for a visa under § 2(b) of the DPA. In Count II, the Government alleged that Kalymon’s service constituted membership or participation in a movement hostile to the United States, rendering him ineligible for a visa under § 13 of the DPA. Next, in Count III, the Government maintained that he willfully misrepresented his wartime service in the UAP to obtain a visa, rendering him ineligible for a visa under § 10 of the DPA. And, finally, in Count IV, the Government asserted that his service in the UAP constituted the advocation or acquiescence in activities or conduct contrary to civilization and human decency, in violation of then-existing State Department regulations governing visas. The district court held a bench trial and later issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The district court found that Kalymon’s service in the UAP, including the extraordinary duties he performed against Jews, amounted to persecution as well as conduct contrary to human decency. Kalymon, 2007 WL 1012983, at , 18. Moreover, the district court found that Kalymon willfully lied to immigration authorities about his wartime activities and that those lies were material. Id. at . It did not find, however, that Kalymon’s membership in the UAP alone constituted membership or participation in a movement hostile to the United States. Id. at . Accordingly, the district court held for the Government on Counts I, III, and IV of its complaint. Id. at . The district court ordered that Kalymon’s certificate of naturalization be canceled and that the 1955 order granting him citizenship be revoked. Id. It subsequently denied Kalymon’s motion for a new trial or to amend the judgment. United States v. Kalymon, No. 04-60003, order (E.D. Mich. June 6, 2007). Kalymon appealed.