Court Opinion

ID: 9946507
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-29 20:00:41.82748+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:25:37.884330
License: Public Domain

NOT PRECEDENTIAL

                     UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                          FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
                             _________________
                                   No. 21-2235
                                _________________
                      DAMION GLENROY VANDO DAVIS,
                                           Petitioner

                                           v.

             ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
                          ________________
                             On Petition for Review of a
                    Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals
                                   (A042-256-487)
                       Immigration Judge: Alice Song Hartye
                                 ________________

                            Argued on September 7, 2023

  Before: CHAGARES, Chief Judge; HARDIMAN and MONTGOMERY-REEVES,
                              Circuit Judges.

                         (Opinion filed: February 29, 2024)
                                 ______________

John H. Peng [ARGUED]
Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York
41 State Street
Suite M112
Albany, NY 12207
       Counsel for Petitioner

Sarah H. Paoletti
University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Transnational League Clinic
3501 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Meredyth Yoon
5680 Oakbrook Parkway
Suite 148
Norcross, GA 30093
       Counsel for Amici Curiae National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers
Guild, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Atlanta, and Southern Poverty Law Center in
Support of Petitioner

Merrick B. Garland
Nancy Canter
Matthew A. Connelly
Jaclyn G. Hagner
Lindsay M. Vick [ARGUED]
United States Department of Justice
Office of Immigration Litigation
P.O. Box 878
Ben Franklin Station
Washington, DC 20044
       Counsel for Respondent

                                      ______________

                                         OPINION*
                                      ______________

MONTGOMERY-REEVES, Circuit Judge.

       Damion Glenroy Vando Davis was born out of wedlock in Jamaica to parents who

never married. In 1989, Davis began living as a lawful permanent resident in the United

States. Davis’s father naturalized when Davis was 16, and Davis’s mother naturalized

when Davis was 21. In 2019, the Government sought to remove Davis because of his

criminal history. Before the Immigration Judge, Davis moved to terminate his removal

*
 This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute binding precedent.
                                             2
proceedings, arguing that he had derived citizenship from his father under the first clause

of former 8 U.S.C. § 1432(a)(3) (repealed 2000) (the “Marriage Clause”).1 The

Immigration Judge rejected Davis’s argument, and the Board of Immigration Appeals

affirmed that ruling.

       Davis now petitions this Court for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’

order. For the first time, Davis also argues that the second clause of former § 1432(a)(3)

(the “Legitimation Clause”),2 which permitted unwed mothers but not unwed fathers to

pass down citizenship, violates the equal protection guarantees of the Fifth Amendment

as applied to him. As explained below, the Immigration Judge did not err in concluding

that Davis did not derive citizenship from his father under the Marriage Clause. And

Davis lacks standing to bring his constitutional challenge to the Legitimation Clause.

Thus, we will deny in part and dismiss in part the petition.

I.     BACKGROUND

       Davis’s parents, Delroy Davis and Dorothy Williams, “became involved in a

romantic relationship in 1976 when [they] both lived in Jamaica. As a result of [that]

relationship [Davis] was born on August 13, 1978, in Jamaica.” CAR 228. Delroy and

1
  The Marriage Clause provides that a child born outside the United States to noncitizen
parents becomes a United States citizen upon “[t]he naturalization of the parent having
legal custody of the child when there has been a legal separation of the parents.” 8
U.S.C. § 1432(a)(3) (repealed 2000).
2
   The Legitimation Clause provides that a child born outside the United States to
noncitizen parents becomes a United States citizen upon “the naturalization of the mother
if the child was born out of wedlock and the paternity of the child has not been
established by legitimation.” Id.
                                             3
Williams did not have a marriage ceremony but considered themselves “to be in a

common law marriage.” Id. “During the time that [Delroy and Williams] were together

[they] lived at 12 Longston Terrace, Kingston, Jamaica.” Id. Their “relationship began

to come to an end” in 1982 when Delroy traveled to the United States. Id.

       Davis was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident on

November 2, 1989, when he was 11. When Davis was 16, Delroy became a naturalized

citizen. Williams became a naturalized citizen when Davis was 21. Davis did not take

any steps to naturalize because Davis and his parents believed that he had derived

citizenship.

       In 2019, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) served Davis with a

notice to appear, charging him as removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(E)(ii) for

violating a protective order. DHS later added charges of removability based on Davis’s

other criminal history. The Immigration Judge sustained the charge of removability

under certain grounds. Afterward, Davis filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration

Appeals, which affirmed the Immigration Judge’s decision.3 Davis then filed this petition

for review.

3
  Davis also applied for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the
Convention Against Torture, which the Immigration Judge denied. Davis did not
challenge these rulings in his appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals or before us.
Accordingly, we will not discuss these rulings further.
                                            4
II.    JURISDICTION

       The Board of Immigration Appeals had jurisdiction under 8 C.F.R. §§ 1003.1(c)

(2020) and 1003.2 (a) and (c). We have jurisdiction to review the threshold question of

whether Davis is a United States citizen. Dessouki v. Att’y Gen., 915 F.3d 964, 966 (3d

Cir. 2019); Brandao v. Att’y Gen., 654 F.3d 427, 428 (3d Cir. 2011). On the one hand, if

we conclude “from the pleadings and affidavits that no genuine issue of material fact

about the petitioner’s nationality is presented, [we] shall decide the nationality claim.” 8

U.S.C. § 1252(b)(5)(A). On the other hand, if we conclude “that a genuine issue of

material fact about the petitioner’s nationality is presented, [we] shall transfer the

proceeding to the district court of the United States for the judicial district in which the

petitioner resides for a new hearing on the nationality claim.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(5)(B).

The ultimate “burden of proof of eligibility for citizenship is on the applicant[,]” and

“[a]ll doubts ‘should be resolved in favor of the United States and against the claimant.’”

Bagot v. Ashcroft, 398 F.3d 252, 256–57 (3d Cir. 2005) (quoting Berenyi v. Dist. Dir.,

INS, 385 U.S. 630, 637 (1967)). When determining whether a genuine issue of material

fact about the petitioner’s nationality is presented, however, we apply the familiar

summary judgment standard and treat the Government as the moving party. Espichan v.

Att’y Gen., 945 F.3d 794, 797 (3d Cir. 2019).

       Additionally, “[w]e always have jurisdiction to determine our own jurisdiction.”

Zurn Indus., LLC v. Allstate Ins. Co., 75 F.4th 321, 326 (3d Cir. 2023) (citing United

States v. Kwasnik, 55 F.4th 212, 215 & n.1 (3d Cir. 2022)).

                                               5
III.   DISCUSSION

       Davis argues that he derived citizenship from his father under either the Marriage

Clause or the Legitimation Clause of § 1432(a)(3). As to the Marriage Clause, Davis

contends that he derived citizenship because his parents entered, and subsequently

dissolved, a common-law marriage. As to the Legitimation Clause, Davis argues that it

deprived him of citizenship on gender-based and race-based grounds in violation of the

Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because, without these constitutional

defects, Davis would have derived citizenship from his father. We address each

argument in turn.

       To begin, we look to the law as it stood at Davis’s birth in 1978, and at the time

his father naturalized in 1994. Morgan v. Att’y Gen., 432 F.3d 226, 230 (3d Cir. 2005).

To derive citizenship under either clause at the relevant times, § 1432(a) provided that:

              (a) A child born outside of the United States of alien parents
              . . . becomes a citizen of the United States upon fulfillment of
              the following conditions:
                     ...
                     (3) The naturalization of the parent having legal custody
                     of the child when there has been a legal separation of
                     the parents or the naturalization of the mother if the
                     child was born out of wedlock and the paternity of the
                     child has not been established by legitimation; and if
                     (4) Such naturalization takes place while such child is
                     under the age of eighteen years; and

                                             6
                     (5) Such child is residing in the United States pursuant
                     to a lawful admission for permanent residence at the
                     time of the naturalization of the parent last naturalized
                     under clause (1) of this subsection, or the parent
                     naturalized under clause (2) or (3) of this subsection, or
                     thereafter begins to reside permanently in the United
                     States while under the age of eighteen years.

       A.     The Marriage Clause4

       Davis contends that his parents entered a common-law marriage under Jamaican

law and legally separated when they stopped cohabitating. Thus, Davis asserts that he

derived citizenship from his father under the Marriage Clause. To derive citizenship

under the Marriage Clause, Davis must show, among other things, that his parents had

been married and then legally separated. See Espichan, 945 F.3d at 798–99 (explaining

that a marriage is a “requisite antecedent to a ‘legal separation’” under the statute). To

determine if Davis’s parents were married within the meaning of the statute, we look to

the “legal rules of the place where the marriage [may have been] performed.” Morgan,

432 F.3d at 232. Because Davis contends that his parents’ purported common-law

marriage occurred in Jamaica, we apply Jamaican law to determine whether they were in

fact married. Id.; see also Espichan, 945 F.3d at 799 (“At the time [the petitioner’s]

parents were allegedly married, they both lived in Peru, so Peruvian law controls.”).

       Davis argues that his parents were married for the purposes of the Marriage Clause

because Jamaica’s Property (Rights of Spouses) Act 2004 (“PROSA”) retroactively

4
  A federal court’s assessment of foreign law is “treated as a ruling on a question of
law[.]” Animal Sci. Prods., Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharm. Co., 138 S. Ct. 1865, 1873
(2018) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 44.1). We review questions of law de novo. Cheruku v.
Att’y Gen., 662 F.3d 198, 202 (3d Cir. 2011).
                                              7
recognized common-law marriages in Jamaica, like the purported common-law marriage

between his parents. Even if we accept Davis’s claim that PROSA applies retroactively

to relationships in the 1970s, Section 4 of PROSA states that “[t]he provisions of

[PROSA apply]” in place of the common law “to the extent that they apply to

transactions between spouses in respect of property.” CAR 24 (emphasis added). This

shows that, on its face, PROSA does not displace Jamaican common law beyond the

division of property.

       Davis also cannot rely on the definition of “spouse” to establish that common-law

marriage is recognized in Jamaica. PROSA defines “spouse” as: “(a) a single woman

who has cohabited with a single man as if she were in law his wife for a period of not less

than five years; (b) a single man who has cohabited with a single woman as if he were in

law her husband for a period of not less than five years, immediately preceding the

institution of proceedings under this Act or the termination of cohabitation as the case

may be.” CAR 24. And the definition of “cohabitate,” which is fundamental to the

definition of “spouse” under PROSA, is “to live together in a conjugal relationship

outside of marriage.” CAR 23 (emphasis added). Thus, the definition of “spouse” in

PROSA does not provide a reason to conclude that the drafters of PROSA intended to

recognize “common-law marriages” in other contexts. Rather, the definition of “spouse”

expressly indicates that cohabitating, single people have a relationship that is “outside” of

                                              8
marriage. Moreover, none of the cases interpreting PROSA that Davis cites hold that

Jamaican law recognizes “common-law marriage” outside of the PROSA context.5

       Thus, Davis has not shown that he can derive citizenship under the Marriage

Clause as Davis has not shown that his parents were married under Jamaican law. And

because they were never married, they were incapable of being legally separated.

       B.     Davis’s Standing to Challenge the Legitimation Clause

       Davis contends that the Legitimation Clause, as applied to him, violates the Fifth

Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by discriminating on the basis of gender and race.

Davis argues that the proper remedy for this violation is to allow him to derive

citizenship from his father under the statute. Thus, according to Davis, he became a

United States citizen on November 23, 1994, when his father naturalized. But Davis has

not shown that his alleged injury—an inability to derive citizenship from his father—is

fairly traceable to the challenged action—the purported unconstitutionality of the

Legitimation Clause. Thus, Davis lacks standing to challenge the Legitimation Clause.

       “Article III of the Constitution confines the federal judicial power to ‘Cases’ and

‘Controversies.’ Under Article III, a case or controversy can exist only if a plaintiff has

standing to sue[.]” United States v. Texas, 599 U.S. 670, 675 (2023) (collecting cases).

5
  See, e.g., Second Opening Br. 21 (citing Brown (Annette v. Brown (Orphiel) [2020]
JMCA Civ. 12, a Jamaican Court of Appeals case about the division of property and
whether PROSA applied retroactively to that division of property); id. at 31 (citing
Whilby-Cunning (Thelma) v. Cunningham (Leroy Augustus) [2011] JMSC Civ. Claim
No. 2009 HCV 02358, in which the Jamaican Supreme Court discussed the retroactivity
of PROSA for the purposes of the courts dividing property).
                                              9
“[I]f a plaintiff does not have standing, courts ‘lack authority under Article III of the

Constitution to consider the merits’ of any claim.” Adam v. Barone, 41 F.4th 230, 233

(3d Cir. 2022) (quoting In re Boy Scouts of Am., 35 F.4th 149, 156 (3d Cir. 2022)).

Therefore, “[w]e are required to address the issue even if . . . the parties fail to raise the

issue before us.” United States v. Hays, 515 U.S. 737, 742 (1995) (quoting FW/PBS, Inc.

v. Dallas, 493 U.S. 215, 230–31 (1990)).

       “To establish Article III standing, a plaintiff must have ‘(1) suffered an injury in

fact, (2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the defendant, and (3) that is

likely to be redressed by a favorable judicial decision.’” Adam, 41 F.4th at 233–34

(quoting Mielo v. Steak ‘n Shake Ops., Inc., 897 F.3d 467, 478 (3d Cir. 2018)). For the

second prong, traceability, Davis must show a causal connection between his inability to

derive citizenship under the Legitimation Clause and the alleged unconstitutionality of

the statute. See Finkleman v. Nat’l Football League, 810 F.3d 187, 193 (3d Cir. 2016).

The traceability element has been described as “akin to ‘but for’ causation in tort[.]” Id.

at 194 (quoting Edmonson v. Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 725 F.3d 406, 418 (3d Cir.

2013)). Davis bears the burden of establishing each element, including traceability.

Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 561 (1992).

       To derive citizenship under the Legitimation Clause, Davis must show that, among

other things, his “paternity . . . [has] not been established by legitimation.” 8 U.S.C.

§ 1432(a)(3) (repealed 2000). To answer that question, we look to the domestic-relations

laws of Jamaica. See Brandao, 654 F.3d at 430 (deciding the legitimacy of a child born

in Cape Verde based on that country’s laws).
                                               10
       In Jamaica, Section 3 of the Status of Children Act, 1976 (Act No. 36/1976)

abolished all material legal distinctions between legitimate and illegitimate children. See

Matter of Hines, 24 I. & N. Dec. 544, 547 (BIA 2008). As we explained in Brandao, we

read laws that abolish legitimacy distinctions as declaring “all natural children . . . to be

the legitimate or legitimated offspring of their natural father,” even if there remains a

separate procedure for establishing paternity. 654 F.3d at 430 (quoting In re Hernandez,

19 I. & N. Dec. 14, 16 (BIA 1983)).6 Davis’s paternity is therefore established. Davis

contends that Delroy is his natural father; the record supports this assertion; and no one

argues otherwise.

       Given this, Davis has failed to establish the traceability requirement, i.e., that the

purported unconstitutionality of the Legitimation Clause is the “but for” cause for his

injury. For the “but for” framework, “a court must isolate and change one and only one

variable. . . . [T]he variable to isolate and change is the conduct of the defendant the

6
  The relevant Cape Verde law states “[i]n the eyes of the law, all children are considered
equal, enjoy the same rights and are subject to the same duties and obligations vis-a-vis
their parents regardless of the latters’ civil status.” Brandao, 654 F.3d at 429. The Status
of Children Act reads, in relevant part, “[s]ubject to subsection (4) and the provisions of
sections 4 and 7, for all the purposes of the law of Jamaica the relationship between every
person and his father and mother shall be determined irrespective of whether the father
and mother are or have been married to each other, and all other relationships shall be
determined accordingly.” Status of Children Act, 1976 (Act No. 36/1976) (Jam.).

It is true that under the BIA’s current approach in Matter of Cross, 26 I. & N. Dec. 485,
490 (BIA 2015), paternity can be established by legitimation in Jamaica “only through
the affirmative act of parental marriage.” But because Matter of Cross merely espoused
the holding of Matter of Hines, which was decided prior to Brandao, we decline to treat
Matter of Cross as intervening authority permitting us to overrule a published decision of
our Court. See Cellco P’ship v. White Deer Twp. Zoning Hearing Bd., 74 F.4th 96, 102
(3d Cir. 2023).
                                              11
plaintiff challenges.” LaSpina v. SEIU Pa. State Council, 985 F.3d 278, 286 (3d Cir.

2021). Here, changing only the conduct Davis challenges—that the Legitimation Clause

permits mothers but not fathers to pass on citizenship to their unlegitimated children—

there is no scenario where Davis could have derived citizenship under the Legitimation

Clause because his paternity “has . . . been established by legitimation.” 8 U.S.C.

§ 1432(a)(3) (repealed 2000) (emphasis added). That is, because Davis could not have

derived citizenship from his mother under the Legitimation Clause, his complained-of

injury—not being able to derive citizenship from his father under § 1432(a)(3)—is not

fairly traceable to the purported unconstitutionality of that statutory provision. See, e.g.,

LaSpina, 985 F.3d at 286–87 (finding that traceability was not met because the plaintiff

would have suffered the same injury regardless of whether the defendant violated the

First Amendment); Howard v. N.J. Dep’t of Civ. Serv., 667 F.2d 1099, 1101–02 (3d Cir.

1981) (holding that traceability was not satisfied where the plaintiffs failed a written

examination required for employment but complained that another prerequisite for

employment violated federal law); Finkelman, 810 F.3d at 198 (holding that the

plaintiff’s injury, an inability to buy fair-price tickets to the Super Bowl, was not fairly

traceable to the NFL’s actions because the plaintiff sought tickets only in the resale

market). Rather, it is the result of Davis being considered legitimated as a matter of

Jamaican law. Thus, Davis has not met his burden to show that he has Article III

standing, and we must dismiss the Equal Protection Clause claims for lack of

                                              12
jurisdiction.7

IV.    CONCLUSION

       For these reasons, we will deny the petition for review to the extent Davis claims

derivative citizenship based on the Marriage Clause, and will dismiss the remainder of

Davis’s petition for lack of jurisdiction.

7
  Davis’s race-based claim is really a gender-based claim in disguise as Davis’s focus is
on the discriminatory impact against fathers. We therefore also lack jurisdiction to
consider Davis’s “race-based” equal protection clause claim.
                                             13