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SCOTUS: Citizenship Can’t Be Revoked Over Minor Misstatements

Decision was unanimous.

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the government cannot revoke citizenship over minor misstatements on official forms. The decision was unanimous. The government contended in the case that the failure to disclose even a traffic ticket could be grounds for revocation of citizenship. “We hold that the government must establish that an illegal act by the defendant played some role in her acquisition of citizenship,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the unanimous opinion. “When the illegal act is a false statement, that means demonstrating that the defendant lied about facts that would have mattered to an immigration official, because they would have justified denying naturalization or would predictably have led to other facts warranting that result.”