Hogan v. Kerry

208 F. Supp. 3d 1288, 2016 WL 5415769, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139446
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedSeptember 21, 2016
DocketCase Number: 15-14196-CIV-MARTINEZ-GOODMAN
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 208 F. Supp. 3d 1288 (Hogan v. Kerry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hogan v. Kerry, 208 F. Supp. 3d 1288, 2016 WL 5415769, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139446 (S.D. Fla. 2016).

Opinion

[1289]*1289ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS

JOSE E. MARTINEZ, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (the “Motion”) [ECF No. 17]. The Court has considered the Motion, Plaintiffs response [ECF No. 18], Defendants’ reply [ECF No. 19], and the pertinent portions of the record, and is otherwise fully advised in the premises. For the reasons set forth below, the Motion is granted.

I. Background

Plaintiff was born in Ireland in 1994. [ECF No. 1 at 2]. Her father is a United States citizen. Id. Her mother was a citizen of Ireland. Id. at 3 n. 1. At the time the Complaint was filed, Plaintiff was in Ireland. Id. at n.2.

In December 2014, Plaintiff applied for a United States passport at the U.S. State Department’s Passport Agency in Miami, Florida. Id. Plaintiff asserts she acquired United States citizenship pursuant' to 8 U.S.C. § 1401(g), which provides that the following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years....

8 U.S.C. § 1401(g). In April 2014, the State Department denied the passport application, because Plaintiff “did not submit sufficient evidence supporting [her] father’s presence in the U.S. after the age of fourteen.” Id. at 5.

Plaintiffs Complaint requests, among other things, the following relief: (i) a declaratory judgment that Plaintiff is a United States citizen; and (ii) pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C § 701 et seq., judicial review of the U.S. State Department’s decision denying her application for a U.S. passport.

Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint for the following reasons: (i) the Court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs claim under 8 U.S.C. § 1503(a), because she is not a “person within the United States,” as required by such section; and (ii) the Court lacks jurisdiction over Plaintiffs claims under the APA, because she has another adequate remedy available to her under 8 U.S.C. § 1503(b) and (c).

II. Discussion

A claim must be dismissed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) if the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction to entertain it. The plaintiff has the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the court has jurisdiction. Steel Co. v. Citizens for a Better Environment, 523 U.S. 83, 103-04, 118 S.Ct. 1003, 140 L.Ed.2d 210 (1998).

A. Claim Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1503(a)

In pertinent part, 8 U.S.C. § 1503(a) provides:

[A]ny person within the United States [who] claims a right or privilege as a national of the United States and is denied such right or privilege by any department or independent agency, or official thereof, upon the ground that [she] is not a national of the United States ... may institute an action under the provisions of section 2201 of Title 28 against the head of such department or independent agency for a judgment declaring [1290]*1290him to be a national of the United States.

8 U.S.C. § 1503(a) (emphasis added). Although § 1503(a) plainly requires Plaintiff to be within the United States to pursue declaratory relief, Plaintiff nevertheless admits that she is presently in Ireland and does not argue that she is a person within the United States. Instead, Plaintiff relies upon Rusk v. Cort, 369 U.S. 367, 375, 82 S.Ct. 787, 7 L.Ed.2d 809 (1962)1 to argue that, like the claimant in Cort, Plaintiff: (i) seeks review of her claim before gaining entry to the United States; (ii) believes herself to be a U.S. citizen; and (iii) could potentially be served with an indictment under 18 U.S.C. § 911 for false claim to citizenship, and therefore, the holding in Cort should be extended to her case.

Defendants respond that Plaintiff cannot seek relief under 8 U.S.C. § 1503(a) because the plain language of the statute is controlling, and Cort is not to the contrary. Defendants note that the Supreme Court in Cort did not hold that a person who is not within the United States can maintain a lawsuit under § 1503(a). See Cort, 369 U.S. at 373-75, 379, 82 S.Ct. 787. Rather, the question presented in Cort was whether subsections (b) and (c) of § 1503 provide the only method of review of the determination that Cort had forfeited his citizenship, thereby precluding Cort from seeking relief under the APA at that time. Id. at 375, 82 S.Ct. 787.

The Court agrees with Defendants’ analysis and finds that the Court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over Plaintiffs claim under 8 U.S.C. § 1503(a), because she is not a “person within the United States,” as required by such section.

B. APA Claim

The APA only permits judicial review of an adverse agency decision where no other adequate remedy is available. See 5 U.S.C. § 704; Bowen v. Massachusetts, 487 U.S. 879, 903, 108 S.Ct. 2722, 101 L.Ed.2d 749 (1988) (Section 704 of the APA does not provide additional judicial remedies where the Congress has provided special and adequate procedures). Defendants assert that Plaintiff has offered no viable reason to indicate that seeking relief under subsections (b) and (c) of § 1503 would be unreasonable or cause hardship.

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Bluebook (online)
208 F. Supp. 3d 1288, 2016 WL 5415769, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139446, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hogan-v-kerry-flsd-2016.