Case: 21-20556 Document: 00516254918 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/25/2022
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
March 25, 2022
No. 21-20556
Summary Calendar Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
Thy Ngoc Nguyen,
Plaintiff—Appellant,
versus
Wallace L. Carroll, Field Office Director, United
States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Houston;
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S. Department of
Homeland Security; Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney
General; United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services,
Defendants—Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
USDC No. 4:21-CV-2077
Before Davis, Jones, and Elrod, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Appellant, Nguyen, challenges the district court’s order granting
appellees’ motion to dismiss Nguyen’s suit alleging that he was illegally
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 21-20556 Document: 00516254918 Page: 2 Date Filed: 03/25/2022
No. 21-20556
denied citizenship via naturalization and requesting an order naturalizing
him. 1 We affirm.
Petitioner, who was born in Vietnam, has been a permanent resident
of the United States since June 28, 1990. In October of 1992, Plaintiff was
convicted in California of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced
to three years imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
In 2013 Plaintiff applied to the USCIS for naturalization as a United
States citizen. His application was denied, and he was placed in removal
proceedings because his 1992 conviction constituted an “aggravated felony.
In 2018 Plaintiff again applied for naturalization, and USCIS again denied
Plaintiff relief because he had been convicted of an “aggravated felony” and
thus could not be of “good moral character” under the Immigration and
Nationality Act. (“INA”), 8 U.S.C. §§1427(a), 1101(f)(8). The denial was
upheld on administrative appeal to the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services.
Plaintiff then filed this civil action in district court seeking de novo
review of his denied naturalization application. Defendants responded by
filing a motion to dismiss the action.
We agree with the district court that because Nguyen had been
convicted in California of assault with a deadly weapon in 1992, an aggravated
felony, he could not be of good moral character as required for naturalization
under the INA. Id.
For these reasons and those stated by the district court in its careful
memorandum opinion and order of September 28, 2021, we AFFIRM the
district court judgment.
1
The district court had jurisdiction to consider this claim under 8 U.S.C. § 1421(c).
2