8 U.S.C. § 1451 : US Code - Section 1451: Revocation of naturalization

Search 8 U.S.C. § 1451 : US Code - Section 1451: Revocation of naturalization

(a) Concealment of material evidence; refusal to testify
It shall be the duty of the United States attorneys for the
respective districts, upon affidavit showing good cause therefor,
to institute proceedings in any district court of the United States
in the judicial district in which the naturalized citizen may
reside at the time of bringing suit, for the purpose of revoking
and setting aside the order admitting such person to citizenship
and canceling the certificate of naturalization on the ground that
such order and certificate of naturalization were illegally
procured or were procured by concealment of a material fact or by
willful misrepresentation, and such revocation and setting aside of
the order admitting such person to citizenship and such canceling
of certificate of naturalization shall be effective as of the
original date of the order and certificate, respectively: Provided,
That refusal on the part of a naturalized citizen within a period
of ten years following his naturalization to testify as a witness
in any proceeding before a congressional committee concerning his
subversive activities, in a case where such person has been
convicted of contempt for such refusal, shall be held to constitute
a ground for revocation of such person's naturalization under this
subsection as having been procured by concealment of a material
fact or by willful misrepresentation. If the naturalized citizen
does not reside in any judicial district in the United States at
the time of bringing such suit, the proceedings may be instituted
in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or
in the United States district court in the judicial district in
which such person last had his residence.
(b) Notice to party
The party to whom was granted the naturalization alleged to have
been illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material
fact or by willful misrepresentation shall, in any such proceedings
under subsection (a) of this section, have sixty days' personal
notice, unless waived by such party, in which to make answers to
the petition of the United States; and if such naturalized person
be absent from the United States or from the judicial district in
which such person last had his residence, such notice shall be
given either by personal service upon him or by publication in the
manner provided for the service of summons by publication or upon
absentees by the laws of the States or the place where such suit is
brought.
(c) Membership in certain organizations; prima facie evidence
If a person who shall have been naturalized after December 24,
1952 shall within five years next following such naturalization
become a member of or affiliated with any organization, membership
in or affiliation with which at the time of naturalization would
have precluded such person from naturalization under the provisions
of section 1424 of this title, it shall be considered prima facie
evidence that such person was not attached to the principles of the
Constitution of the United States and was not well disposed to the
good order and happiness of the United States at the time of
naturalization, and, in the absence of countervailing evidence, it
shall be sufficient in the proper proceeding to authorize the
revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such person to
citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of
naturalization as having been obtained by concealment of a material
fact or by willful misrepresentation, and such revocation and
setting aside of the order admitting such person to citizenship and
such canceling of certificate of naturalization shall be effective
as of the original date of the order and certificate, respectively.
(d) Applicability to citizenship through naturalization of parent
or spouse
Any person who claims United States citizenship through the
naturalization of a parent or spouse in whose case there is a
revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or
spouse to citizenship under the provisions of subsection (a) of
this section on the ground that the order and certificate of
naturalization were procured by concealment of a material fact or
by willful misrepresentation shall be deemed to have lost and to
lose his citizenship and any right or privilege of citizenship
which he may have, now has, or may hereafter acquire under and by
virtue of such naturalization of such parent or spouse, regardless
of whether such person is residing within or without the United
States at the time of the revocation and setting aside of the order
admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship. Any person who
claims United States citizenship through the naturalization of a
parent or spouse in whose case there is a revocation and setting
aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship
and the cancellation of the certificate of naturalization under the
provisions of subsection (c) of this section, or under the
provisions of section 1440(c) of this title on any ground other
than that the order and certificate of naturalization were procured
by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation,
shall be deemed to have lost and to lose his citizenship and any
right or privilege of citizenship which would have been enjoyed by
such person had there not been a revocation and setting aside of
the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship and the
cancellation of the certificate of naturalization, unless such
person is residing in the United States at the time of the
revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or
spouse to citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of
naturalization.
(e) Citizenship unlawfully procured
When a person shall be convicted under section 1425 of title 18
of knowingly procuring naturalization in violation of law, the
court in which such conviction is had shall thereupon revoke, set
aside, and declare void the final order admitting such person to
citizenship, and shall declare the certificate of naturalization of
such person to be canceled. Jurisdiction is conferred on the courts
having jurisdiction of the trial of such offense to make such
adjudication.
(f) Cancellation of certificate of naturalization
Whenever an order admitting an alien to citizenship shall be
revoked and set aside or a certificate of naturalization shall be
canceled, or both, as provided in this section, the court in which
such judgment or decree is rendered shall make an order canceling
such certificate and shall send a certified copy of such order to
the Attorney General. The clerk of court shall transmit a copy of
such order and judgment to the Attorney General. A person holding a
certificate of naturalization or citizenship which has been
canceled as provided by this section shall upon notice by the court
by which the decree of cancellation was made, or by the Attorney
General, surrender the same to the Attorney General.
(g) Applicability to certificates of naturalization and citizenship
The provisions of this section shall apply not only to any
naturalization granted and to certificates of naturalization and
citizenship issued under the provisions of this subchapter, but to
any naturalization heretofore granted by any court, and to all
certificates of naturalization and citizenship which may have been
issued heretofore by any court or by the Commissioner based upon
naturalization granted by any court, or by a designated
representative of the Commissioner under the provisions of section
702 of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended, or by such
designated representative under any other act.
(h) Power to correct, reopen, alter, modify, or vacate order
Nothing contained in this section shall be regarded as limiting,
denying, or restricting the power of the Attorney General to
correct, reopen, alter, modify, or vacate an order naturalizing the
person.