In re Naturalization

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION

Petitioners are 68 Filipinos whose petitions for naturalization pursuant to Sections 701 — 705 of the Nationality Act of 1940, ch. 199, 56 Stat. 182 et seq., as amended, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1005 (1940 ed. Supp. V), were denied by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Petitioners, who have lived in the United States for varying lengths of time, chiefly as “visitors,” claim to have served honorably in the United States armed forces during the Second World War via service in the Commonwealth Army of the Philippines or the Philippine Scouts. They maintain that their petitions for naturalization should have been granted by the INS despite expiration of the law on which their eligibility is founded and now ask the Court to grant their petitions. The Court’s jurisdiction is based on 8 U.S.C. § 1421 (a).

This matter has a complex historical background, but the basic facts are generally undisputed. On March 27, 1942, Sections 701 — 705 were added to the Nationality Act of 1940 by the Second War Powers Act of 1942, ch. 199, 56 Stat. 176 et seq., as amended. Section 701 exempted alien servicemen who served outside the continental limits of the United States…