Filisone Ma Afu v. Eric Holder, Jr.

MEMORANDUM

Filisone Manisel Ma Afu petitions this court for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) ordering him removed to Tonga. Ma Afu was admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor when he was a toddler in 1987. His father became a U.S. citizen in 1998, but Ma Afu did not adjust to permanent resident status until 2005, when he was nineteen years old.

Shortly after his adjustment, Ma Afu was convicted of first-degree burglary and placed in removal proceedings. He argued that he was not removable because he became a U.S. citizen under the Child Citizenship Act (“CCA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1431 , as a result of his father’s naturalization. The Immigration Judge disagreed and ordered Ma Afu removed. The BIA affirmed.

Ma Afu concedes that he does not meet the explicit statutory requirements of the CCA, which provides automatic citizenship to a noncitizen minor with a citizen parent if the minor is admitted as a lawful permanent resident before turning eighteen. 8 U.S.C. § 1431 . Ma Afu did not attain permanent resident status until he was nineteen. He nonetheless argues that he should be entitled to citizenship under the CCA on the theory that his…