WASHINGTON – Four years after a district court ruled that a Trump-era policy blocking military service members’ expedited path to citizenship was unlawful, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of the District of Columbia are in court urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to uphold this ruling.
“The promise of expedited citizenship Congress has made to non-citizen service members is a moral imperative embedded in our history, values, and laws," said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney at ACLU. “If you are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for America, you are – and should be – entitled to become American citizens.”
For over a century, Congress has granted non-citizens serving during armed conflict eligibility to naturalize at the start of their service, so that they can deploy overseas as United States citizens. A 2017 Trump administration policy introduced new time-in-service requirements that effectively deprived service members of the opportunity to naturalize before potential assignment overseas. In April 2020, the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of eight non-citizens serving in the U.S. military who represent a class of thousands in uniform.
A federal district court struck down this policy in August 2020 and the first Trump administration appealed. The Biden administration rescinded the policy but maintained the Trump-era appeal while it allegedly developed a new policy. However, the Biden policy never materialized, and, now, the Department of Defense under President Trump is once again back in court seeking to overturn the victory the ACLU’s clients won four years ago.
The ACLU will argue that the case is moot and should be dismissed because the Trump policy was rescinded and there is no current policy. It will also argue that if the court determines the case is not moot, it should affirm its clients’ victory in the district court.
“Since World War I, the United States has naturalized non-citizen soldiers before they deploy, so that they serve — and perhaps die — as citizens of the nation they serve,” said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the ACLU of the District of Columbia. “Congress has recognized for a century that this is proper, and the Pentagon has no right to change it.”
More information about this case, Samma v. DOD, is available here: https://www.acludc.org/en/cases/samma-v-department-defense-challenge-trump-administration-policy-blocking-non-citizens-serving