Opinion ID: 582550
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Domicile Under the Common Law

Text: 16 Nothing in the legislative history of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 sheds specific light on Congress' meaning in its use of the word domicile. See H.R.Rep. No. 1365, 82d Cong., 2d Sess., reprinted in 1952 U.S.Code Cong. and Admin.News 1653, 1705-06. As it is assumed Congress intends words to have their ordinary meaning, it is appropriate to define domicile in reference to its generally accepted common law meaning if to do so does not defeat the purposes of the statute. See Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U.S. 30, 47, 109 S.Ct. 1597, 1607-08, 104 L.Ed.2d 29 (1989). 17 In Holyfield the Supreme Court was called upon to interpret domicile as that term is used in the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1901-1963. That Act provides that tribal courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over proceedings concerning Indian children domiciled on a reservation. Id. § 1911(a). The Court first observed that because the Indian Child Welfare Act was designed to implement a uniform federal policy--the same is true with the Immigration and Nationality Act--domicile was not to be determined according to the law of the forum, but rather required a uniform federal definition. 490 U.S. at 43-47, 109 S.Ct. at 1605-08. It further stated that the fact that a uniform federal definition is necessary need not prevent courts from drawing on common law principles in fixing the meaning of legislative language. Id. at 47, 109 S.Ct. at 1607-08. 18 In examining common law principles it becomes immediately apparent that the INS' interpretation of domicile, at least as applied to minors, is inconsistent with its traditional common law meaning. The terms resident and domicile, though sometimes synonymous, have different common law meanings. See 25 Am.Jur.2d Domicile § 4 (1966). Domiciliaries are those who have a fixed, permanent and principal home and to which, whenever absent, they always intend to return. See id. at § 1. At the opposite end of the scale are transients, those persons who are just passing through a locality. In between these notions of permanence and transience are residents. Residency means an established abode, for personal or business reasons, permanent for a time. See Martinez v. Bynum, 461 U.S. 321, 330-31, 103 S.Ct. 1838, 1843-44, 75 L.Ed.2d 879 (1983). A resident is so determined from the physical fact of that person's living in a particular place. See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(33) (defining residence as place of general abode ... without regard to intent). One may have more than one residence in different parts of this country or the world, but a person may have only one domicile. A person may be a resident of one locality, but be domiciled in another. See Holyfield, 490 U.S. at 48, 109 S.Ct. at 1608. 19 A minor's domicile is the same as that of its parents, since most children are presumed not legally capable of forming the requisite intent to establish their own domicile. Id. For legitimate children, the rule is usually stated to be that domicile follows the father, Restatement (Second) Conflict of Laws § 14(2) (1969), for illegitimate children it follows that of the mother. Holyfield, 490 U.S. at 48, 109 S.Ct. at 1608. Hence, it is not illogical that sometimes a child's domicile will be in a place where he or she has never been. See Restatement § 14, Comment b. The INS fails to advance any satisfactory reasons as to why domicile in § 212(c) should not be understood to convey a similar meaning. 20 In fact, in the immigration context, where the domicile of a minor alien like Rosario may determine whether he is eligible for relief from deportation, the ameliorative purpose of § 212(c) is better served by permitting a minor to establish domicile through a parent with whom he had a significant relationship during the time in question. This connection with the parent--and, by extension, with this country--evinces the type of bond that the statute was designed to protect from unwarranted severance. We regard the fact that Rosario has lived with his mother in the United States for more than six years after he arrived in this country at age 12 as indicating this relationship existed. If so, he is entitled to claim domicile through her. 21 It seems clear that the BIA's reading of § 212(c) to require, in effect, seven years of domicile and residency is inconsistent with the statutory language, at least insofar as domicile has traditionally been understood in the context of minors. Properly understood, the agency's long-standing interpretation of domicile in § 212(c) to require physical presence can apply only to adults, for whom actual presence and an intent to indefinitely remain or prior presence and an intent to return are traditional elements of domicile. See 25 Am.Jur.2d § 4; cf. Lok, 548 F.2d at 40 (refusing to add requirements beyond those explicitly found in § 212(c) before waiver may be sought). 22 That the INS itself recognizes that domicile is an entirely different attribute than residency is evidenced by its opinion in The Matter of A, where the BIA held that the domicile of a minor child follows that of the person from whom the domicile of origin was taken. See 2 I. & N. Dec. 87, 88-89 (BIA 1944); see also 8 U.S.C. § 1101(b)(1)(c) (defining child as a child legitimated under the law of the child's residence or domicile ) (emphasis added). Consequently, insofar as the agency's interpretation of § 212(c) results in adding to the domicile requirement a residency requirement, which is not included in the language of the Act, we are unable to uphold it. Our conclusion that the INS' interpretation is unreasonable is supported by the principle that in light of the harshness of deportation, ambiguous deportation provisions should be construed in favor of the alien. See Costello v. INS, 376 U.S. 120, 128, 84 S.Ct. 580, 585, 11 L.Ed.2d 559 (1964); INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 449, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 1222, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987); Lok, 548 F.2d at 39. 23 The INS asserts finally that the interpretation urged by petitioner would lead to absurd results and cannot therefore accurately reflect Congress' view. In particular, it argues that a minor admitted into the United States might derive lawful domicile from a parent already present for seven years, thereby making that person eligible for § 212(c) relief on the very day of arrival. This, in turn, would frustrate the purpose of § 212(c), which is to waive grounds of excludability or deportability for aliens who have developed such strong ties to this country that exclusion or deportation would be unjustly harsh. The agency misstates the purpose of § 212(c). It is not to waive grounds of deportability, but rather to provide an opportunity to seek a waiver at the discretion of the Attorney General. See Francis, 532 F.2d at 272. Section 212(c)'s requirement that an applicant must have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence obviates the concern that a minor without any significant connection with the United States might nevertheless be eligible for discretionary relief. 24 If one qualifies for § 212(c) eligibility despite not having developed family ties in the United States, then the Attorney General can exercise his discretion and not waive deportability. Instead, it is the agency's interpretation that frustrates the legislative scheme because it works to prevent those who have developed close ties to the United States (as Rosario) from being able to seek a waiver.