United States v. Phattey, No. 18-35998 (9th Cir. 2019)
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The revocation of citizenship on the ground that the grant of citizenship was "illegally procured or . . . procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation," 8 U.S.C. 1451(a), does not constitute a "penalty" for purposes of the five year statute of limitations generally applicable to civil fines, penalties, and forfeitures, under 28 U.S.C. 2462.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the government, holding that the purpose of denaturalization is to remedy a past fraud by taking back a benefit to which an alien is not entitled. Therefore, the panel held that section 2462 did not provide petitioner a statute of limitations defense, because denaturalization was not a penalty for purposes of section 2462.
Court Description: Immigration. Affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the government, the panel held that the five-year statute of limitations set out by 28 U.S.C. § 2462, which generally applies to actions to enforce civil penalties, does not apply to denaturalization proceedings. In 2010, Phoday Phattey was issued a certificate of naturalization. In 2017, the government learned that Phattey had obtained his citizenship by fraud and filed a complaint to revoke naturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a). Although § 1451(a) does not contain a statute of limitations, Phattey argued that the five-year statute of limitations set out by 28 U.S.C. § 2462 applies to revocation proceedings and that, therefore, the statute of limitations to bring the denaturalization action had expired. Observing that the Supreme Court has long held that revocation of citizenship is not a penalty, the panel held that § 2462 does not provide Phattey a statute-of-limitations defense because denaturalization is not a penalty for purposes of § 2462. The panel rejected Phattey’s argument that the relevant precedent had been superseded by Kokesh v. SEC, 137 S. Ct. 1635 (2017), in which the Supreme Court concluded that § 2462 applies to disgorgement actions brought by the Securities Exchange Commission. The panel observed that the Supreme Court set out two principles in UNITED STATES V. PHATTEY 3 Kokesh: 1) whether a sanction represents a penalty turns in part on whether the wrong sought to be addressed is a wrong to the public or a wrong to an individual; and 2) a pecuniary sanction operates as a penalty only if it is sought for the purpose of punishment, and to deter others from offending. The panel explained that, although the wrong sought to be redressed by denaturalization is a wrong to the public, revocation of citizenship is not sought for the purpose of punishment or to deter future violations. Rather, the purpose of denaturalization is to remedy a past fraud by taking back a benefit to which the alien is not entitled and thus restoring the status quo ante.
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