Opinion ID: 431955
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Trial Court's Revocation of Koziy's Citizenship Pursuant to 8 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1451(a).

Text: 12 Title 8 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1451(a) provides two methods for revocation of an individual's citizenship: (1) If the individual illegally procured his citizenship, or (2) if citizenship were procured by concealment of a material fact or wilful misrepresentation. 13
14 Citizenship is illegally procured if some statutory requirement which is a condition precedent to naturalization is absent at the time the petition is granted. H.R.Rep. 1086, 87 Cong., 1st Sess. 39, reprinted in [1961] U.S.Code Cong. & Admn.News, 2950, 2983. See also, Fedorenko v. United States, 449 U.S. 490, 515, 101 S.Ct. 737, 751, 66 L.Ed.2d 686 (1981). Lawful admittance to the United States is a statutory condition precedent to naturalization. 8 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1429. If Koziy were ineligible for a visa, he would be unlawfully admitted to the United States. The United States produced various witnesses to testify to Koziy's affiliations with the Ukranian Police and the OUN. Involvement with the Ukranian Police or the OUN would preclude Koziy from receiving a visa under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. 15 The United States produced witnesses who testified they saw Bohdan Koziy in a Ukranian police uniform killing unarmed civilians in the town of Lisets. Josef-Waclaw Jablonski testified he saw Koziy at least once a week in a Ukranian police uniform. He also saw Koziy kill the Singer girl and members of the Kandler family. Jablonski stated that he was 100 percent positive that Koziy committed both acts. Anton Vatseb corroborated Jablonski's story. Vatseb testified he saw Koziy kill the Kandlers and the Singer girl. Vatseb also testified he was with Jablonski when Koziy shot the Singer girl. Vatseb stated that the Kandler family was shot in the same fashion as Jablonski had stated. Three witnesses, Anna Snigur, Maria Antoniva Il'kovs'ka, and Yosif Frankovich Il'kovs'kii, testified that they saw Koziy kill the Bredgolts's family while wearing a Ukranian police uniform. 16 The United States also produced two exhibits which corroborated the witnesses' testimony declaring that Koziy was a member of the Ukranian police force. The anmeldung and the abmeldung, Ukranian police employment forms, both contained Koziy's signature. Each document represented Koziy's affiliation with the Ukranian police. Koziy, however, claims he was never employed in the Ukranian police force. 17 Koziy presented his testimony and the testimony of three witnesses to refute the government's contention that he was a member of the Ukranian police force. First, his wife testified and contended that Koziy was never a member of the Ukranian police force. Second, Wasyl Ostapiak, Koziy's father-in-law, and a resident of the town of Lisets during World War II, testified he never saw Koziy in a Ukranian police uniform. Mykola Ostatiak testified that he never saw Koziy in a Ukrainian police uniform. Koziy himself took the stand and declared he was never involved in the Ukranian police force. Koziy, however, did state that he wore the uniform of the Ukranian police force on a few occasions as a disguise to conceal his membership in the OUN. Koziy contends this evidence displays his non-affiliation with the Ukranian police force. 18 To prevail in a denaturalization proceeding, the government must prove its case by clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence, and leave no issue in doubt. Fedorenko v. United States, 449 U.S. 490, 505, 101 S.Ct. 737, 746, 66 L.Ed.2d 686 (1981); United States v. Chaunt, 364 U.S. 350, 353, 81 S.Ct. 147, 149, 5 L.Ed.2d 120 (1966); Schneiderman v. United States, 320 U.S. 118, 125, 63 S.Ct. 1333, 1336, 87 L.Ed. 1796 (1943). The district court held that the government fulfilled its burden of showing Koziy's membership in the Ukranian police. It found that Koziy was ineligible for a visa under the Displaced Persons Act and was never lawfully admitted into the United States. The district court, therefore, held that Koziy had illegally procured his citizenship because he had failed to fulfill a statutory condition precedent to naturalization. 19 In reviewing factual findings of the district court, we are bound by the clearly erroneous standard of Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). Inwood Laboratories v. Ives Laboratories, 456 U.S. 844, 855, 102 S.Ct. 2182, 2188, 72 L.Ed.2d 606 (1982); United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 394-95, 68 S.Ct. 525, 541, 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948); Wilson v. Thompson, 638 F.2d 799, 801 (5th Cir.1981). The district court's factual findings concerning Koziy's affiliation with the Ukranian police are not clearly erroneous. 20 The only issue concerning Koziy's affiliation with the OUN is whether the OUN was, at the time under consideration, hostile to the United States. Koziy testified that he was extensively involved with the OUN's activities during World War II. The United States presented the same witnesses who testified about Koziy's shooting innocent civilians to report about the OUN's hostility towards the United States. These witnesses testified that the OUN committed atrocities against Polish civilians who were United States allies. The United States also introduced a document which the Displaced Persons Commission formulated exhibiting all organizations considered hostile to the United States. The OUN was listed on it. The United States produced the resolution of the Second Congress of the OUN which exhibited the OUN's anti-semitic ideology. The government also displayed various applications for admission to the United States which the DPC denied because of the individuals' affiliations with the OUN. 21 To rebut the government's contention that the OUN was hostile to the United States, Koziy presented an expert witness on the OUN, Dr. Petro Murchuk. He testified that the OUN was never hostile to the United States. 3 Koziy also testified declaring that the OUN was never hostile to the United States. Koziy, however, stated that the OUN killed Russian partisans during World War II. The United States and Russia were allies during World War II. 22 The district court found that the government had fulfilled its burden of proof with respect to Koziy's involvement with the OUN and held that Koziy was ineligible for a visa, and therefore was never lawfully admitted into the United States. It ruled Koziy had illegally procured his citizenship. We fail to find the district court's factual findings regarding Koziy's affiliations with the OUN clearly erroneous. Hamm v. Members of Board of Regents of the State of Florida, 708 F.2d 647, 650 (11th Cir.1983); Lincoln v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, 697 F.2d 928, 939 (11th Cir.1983). 23 Being of good moral character is another statutory condition precedent to naturalization. 8 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1427(a)(3). A person who has given false testimony for the purpose of obtaining benefits under the immigration laws lacks good moral character. 8 U.S.C.A. Sec. 1101(f)(6). The district court found Koziy had failed to reveal his wartime activities in his visa and naturalization applications, and therefore, lacked good moral character. The district court held Koziy had illegally procured his citizenship because he had failed to satisfy a statutory condition precedent to naturalization. 24 Unless the district court's factual findings are clearly erroneous, we are compelled to abide by them. Hamm, at 650; Lincoln, at 939. The district court's factual findings are not clearly erroneous. 25
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.