Diaz-Jimenez v. Sessions, No. 15-73603 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit granted a petition for review of the BIA's decision affirming the IJ's order of removal. The panel held that petitioner was not removable under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I), as an alien who made a false claim of citizenship to obtain private employment, because there was no basis in the record to conclude that he represented himself as a citizen on a Form I–9. In this case, there was nothing in the record showing that petitioner ever filled out a Form I-9 and thus nothing in the record to show that he made a false representation of citizenship. The panel remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Immigration. The panel granted David Israel Diaz-Jimenez’s petition for review of a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals upholding his order of removal, holding that Diaz was not removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I), as an alien who made a false claim of citizenship to obtain private employment, because there was no basis in the record to conclude that Diaz represented himself as a citizen on a Form I–9, and remanded. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I), an “alien who falsely represents, or has falsely represented, himself or herself to be a citizen of the United States for any purpose or benefit under this chapter (including [8 U.S.C. § 1324a]) or any other Federal or State law is inadmissible.” The panel held that private employment is a “purpose or benefit” within the meaning of § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I). The panel observed that § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I) refers to 8 U.S.C. § 1324a, which makes it unlawful to hire an unauthorized alien. The panel further explained that § 1324a covers federal employment, but its principal concern is private employment. Thus, the panel concluded that by specifically referencing § 1324a in the text of § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I), Congress expressed an intent to make private employment a qualifying “purpose or benefit.” DIAZ-JIMENEZ V. SESSIONS 3 Next, the panel addressed Diaz’s argument that, even if private employment qualifies as a purpose of benefit, he had not made a false representation of citizenship for the purposes of § 1324a. As a preliminary matter, the panel concluded that Diaz had satisfied the exhaustion requirement with respect to this issue, explaining that Diaz did not make the precise argument to the BIA, but he gave the BIA an adequate opportunity to pass on the issue. Addressing the merits, the panel observed that § 1324a(b)(2) requires a person seeking employment to attest to United States citizenship on “the form designated or established” for that purpose, and that the relevant designated form under § 1324a(b)(2) is Form I–9. The panel held that an alien can violate § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I) by a false representation of citizenship for the “purpose or benefit” of obtaining private employment under § 1324a only when such a representation is made under § 1324a(b)(2) on a Form I–9. In so concluding, the panel considered the language of § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I), the BIA’s decision in Matter of Bett, 26 I. & N. Dec. 437, 440 (BIA 2014) (holding that an alien who represents himself as a citizen on a Form I–9 to secure employment with a private employer has falsely represented himself for a purpose or benefit under the Immigration & Nationality Act), and the legislative history. Because there was nothing in the record showing that Diaz ever filled out a Form I–9, the panel concluded there was therefore nothing in the record to show that he made a 4 DIAZ-JIMENEZ V. SESSIONS false representation of citizenship under § 1324a(b)(2) and that, as a consequence, he made a false representation of citizenship within the meaning of § 1182(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I).
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.