Posted on 04/26/2017 1:12:54 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts took issue on Wednesday with the Trump administration's stance in an immigration case, saying it could make it too easy for the government to strip people of citizenship for lying about minor infractions.
Roberts and other Supreme Court justices indicated support for a deported ethnic Serb immigrant named Divna Maslenjak over her bid to regain her U.S. citizenship after it was stripped because she falsely stated her husband had not served in the Bosnian Serb army in the 1990s after Yugoslavia's collapse.
Roberts seemed particularly concerned that the government was asserting it could revoke citizenship through criminal prosecution for trivial lies or omissions.
Maslenjak entered the United States with her husband and two children in 2000, granted refugee status over a claimed fear of ethnic persecution in Bosnia at the hands of Muslims. They settled in Ohio. She became a U.S. citizen in 2007. At issue is her concealment of her husband Ratko's service in a Bosnian Serb Army brigade that participated in the notorious 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica.
Maslenjak's citizenship was revoked. She and her husband were deported to Serbia last October.
Roberts described the administration's interpretation as inviting "prosecutorial abuse" because the government could likely find a reason for stripping citizenship from most naturalized citizens.
"That to me is troublesome to give that extraordinary power, which, essentially, is unlimited power, at least in most cases, to the government," Roberts added.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Obtaining citizenship should be treated like a contract. If it can be determined that the contract was entered into fraudulently, then it should be null and void.
Thus, the only question before the court should be whether she would have been able to obtain citizenship if she had not concealed her husband’s prior activities. If that would have precluded her from acquiring citizenship, then Robert’s is wrong to trivialize the concealment.
[I am NOT a lawyer. I am an engineer.]
Wondering if Roberts’ judgment is perhaps influenced by the facts surrounding the adoption of his foreign-born children?
Roberts is correct on this
I would not call lying about participation in the mass murder of 8000 people a ‘trivial’ lie.................
He wasn’t even President-Elect at that time!.............
“this is from an oral argument so it is trumps admin now arguing case.”
Correct. Some DOJ/Solicitor General lawyers who worked for Obama and now for DJT probably worked on this.
Why is he concerned about Trump’s stance? She was deported last October
“My husband is not a war criminal guilty of mass murder”.
Hey, little slip-ups like that happen to everyone.
Fake news but Roberts is a Mutt. His appointment was one of Bush’s nightmares. (Mission accomplished!)
Maybe trump can deport Roberts illegally adopted kids back to Ireland.
But that wasn't the government's position. The government's position is that the misrepresented fact was enough and the determination of effect on citizenship was irrelevant. THAT is not a reasoned exercise of administrative discretion.
Since jihadis are *commanded* by Islam to lie whenever possible to the infidel, this ‘trivial’ lie clause might be the only way to quickly deport those about to exhibit Sudden Jihad Syndrome.
PFL
The headline is seriously misleading because this all happened before Trump was elected. Chief Justice Roberts makes some good points, but the headline for this article is highly deceptive.
“Roberts is correct on this”
Really? How about just not lying? I know that is an odd concept in the post-Christian world - but it’s actually not that tough a barrier.
As far as I am concerned we can reject applicants for citizenship for any bloody reason we want. It a privilege - not a right. But lie on the application? bye bye.
The Judiciary Branch is bought and paid for by the global SWAMP.
So it seems that she was deported in October? How the heck is this Trump’s fault?!
Roberts is one of the reasons Trump needs a couple of more USSC appointments soon. He is in thrall to the obamunists and they have not gone away.
“Since jihadis are *commanded* by Islam to lie whenever possible to the infidel, this ‘trivial’ lie clause might be the only way to quickly deport those about to exhibit Sudden Jihad Syndrome.”
Possibly. I believe they have used that rationale successfully in the past to deport former Nazi prison camp guards who lied about their past.
Makes you wonder if he had to lie - but just ‘trivially’ - when adopting his kids.
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