Hassan-Abdallah

*886 MEMORANDUM *

Nael Shukri Hassan-Abdallah petitions this Court to review a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the “Board). The Board affirmed the Immigration Judge’s order that Hassan-Abdallah be removed from the United States. Hassan-Abdallah contends that he automatically became naturalized under § 321(a)(3) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 8 U.S.C. § 1432 (a)(3) (the “Act”), and therefore cannot be removed. Alternatively, Hassan-Abdallah argues that he cannot be removed because he became a “national” by applying for citizenship.

Hassan-Abdallah did not attain naturalization pursuant to § 321(a)(3) of the Act. Naturalization of a child under this provision depends upon three elements: (1) the “naturalization of a parent” (2) who has “legal custody” of the child (3) “when there has been a legal separation of the parents.” 8 U.S.C. § 1432 (a)(3). The Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals correctly ruled that at no point did all three of these elements exist at the same time in Hassan-Abdallah’s case. To the degree that there is any ambiguity in the statute in this regard, the Board’s interpretation — that the legal separation cannot…