Opinion ID: 431955
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procurement of Citizenship by Concealment of a Material

Text: Fact or by Willful Misrepresentation 26 Under 8 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1451(a), if naturalization is procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation, it must be revoked. In a denaturalization proceeding, concealed facts are material if either they would have warranted denial of citizenship if known, or if the disclosure might have led to an investigation into other facts warranting denial of citizenship. United States v. Fedorenko, 597 F.2d 946, 949-52 (5th Cir.1979), aff'd Fedorenko v. United States, 449 U.S. 490, 101 S.Ct. 737, 66 L.Ed.2d 686 (1981). The district court found that Koziy had failed to disclose his affiliation with the OUN in his application to file a petition for naturalization. It held that if he had disclosed his affiliation with the organization, it would have led to an investigation into other facts which might have warranted a denial of citizenship. The district court, therefore, held Koziy's naturalization was procured by a concealment of a material fact. The district court found that Koziy never disclosed his membership in the Ukranian Police force. It ruled that if he had disclosed his connection with the police force in his visa application, his application would have been rejected outright, or at the least, an investigation would have commenced which might have led to a denial of citizenship. His failure to disclose his affiliation with the police force, therefore, was a concealment of a material fact, and his naturalization was procured by concealment of a material fact. These findings are not clearly erroneous.