Roberto Moncada v. Mike Pompeo

Introduction 6 Mr. Moncada has lived his entire life as a United States citizen because the 7 United States government told Mr. Moncada that he was a citizen. And then they told 9 him again. (See e.g., Dkt. No. 125, Stipulated Fact (“SF”) 7.) And again. (Id.) And 10 again. (Id.) And again. (Id.) 11 Indeed, on multiple occasions, the government sought to answer precisely the 13 same question animating this litigation: What was Mr. Moncada’s father’s diplomatic 14 status at the time of Mr. Moncada’s birth? And on multiple occasions, the 15 government determined that because Dr. Moncada did not have full diplomatic 17 immunity at the time of his son’s birth, “Roberto Moncada would therefore have 18 19 acquired U.S. citizenship at birth.” (Ex. 29 at DEF-00000018.) However, on July 27, 2018, the government finally (and somewhat curiously) 21 stumbled across its mistake, and Mr. Moncada—two years shy of 70—received a 22 23 letter revoking his passport and, in effect, his citizenship. At trial, the government categorized its near seventy-year error as “a very 25 unfortunate and regrettable situation” telling the Court that “[w]e do not hide the…