In re Naturalization of Klajic

260 F. Supp. 807, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7359
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedNovember 10, 1966
DocketNo. 263003
StatusPublished

This text of 260 F. Supp. 807 (In re Naturalization of Klajic) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Naturalization of Klajic, 260 F. Supp. 807, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7359 (C.D. Cal. 1966).

Opinion

HAUK, District Judge.

Petitioner, a native and citizen of Yugoslavia, seeks citizenship under Section 316(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, hereinafter referred to as “the Act”, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1427(a).1 In essence this permits the naturalization of an alien who, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, has resided continuously in the United States for at least five years, has been a person of good moral character during such period, and is disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.

After the filing of appropriate documents and an administrative hearing, the matter is now before this Court on final hearing, pursuant to Section 336 of the Act, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1447.

Conceding that petitioner has met all of the other requirements of the Act, the Government opposes citizenship and recommends denial for two reasons:

(1) Petitioner’s membership in the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije (“People’s Youth of Yugoslavia”) and, what is claimed by the Government, his alleged chairmanship of that organization with full appreciation of the political significance and the Communist affiliation of that organization, constitute proscribed membership within the meaning of Section 313(a) and (c) of the Act, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1424(a) and (c);2 and
[809]*809(2) Because in failing to disclose his membership in the Narodna Om-ladina Jugoslavije at the time he received his Immigrant Visa, petitioner has failed to establish his lawful admission to the United States for permanent residence.

The determination of these two issues depends upon the facts as well as the law. After thorough examination of both, we proceed to our findings of fact, conclusions of law and judgment, all of which are in favor of petitioner, granting his petition and admitting him to citizenship upon his taking the prescribed oath.

FACTS

Petitioner was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, on July 16, 1935. When he was fifteen years of age he commenced attendance at an industrial school in Yugoslavia to learn the trade of aircraft mechanic, and incidental to his attendance at the school he became a member of the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije. The petitioner testified that he was not asked whether he wanted to join the organization, and, as far as he knew, all students who attended the school automatically became members thereof.

After completing his industrial schooling, and immediately after he became eighteen years of age, petitioner attempted to leave Yugoslavia without permission of the government, for which he was arrested and put in jail for several months. Following his release from jail he obtained employment as an aircraft mechanic at the factory where his earlier industrial training was achieved. At this time, in addition to continuing his membership in the Narodna Om-ladina Jugoslavije, he was required to join a government-sponsored trade union, Sindikata, membership in which he continued until he left Yugoslavia in 1958.

Petitioner held various jobs in the Belgrade area, including work as a day laborer on a construction project for several months. At all times while he was employed he was a member of the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije.

Because of difficulty encountered in holding a job near Belgrade, during which time his membership in the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije was of a passive and quiescent nature, petitioner moved to the City of Subotica in 1957, where he obtained employment in a bicycle factory. When he was again issued membership in that factory’s branch of the Narodna Omladina Jugo-slavije, he began regularly to attend meetings of the organization, in order to avoid further employment difficulties.

Petitioner was well liked by his coworkers, and in May, 1958, he was selected as incoming chairman of the branch of Narodna Omladina Jugo-slavije when the then chairman was elevated to a higher post to be assumed later that year. At the time petitioner was selected for the chairmanship, he had already made application for a passport to enable him to attend the Worlds Fair being held at Brussels, Belgium. Petitioner testified that he agreed to accept the position of chairman of the Subotica bicycle factory branch of Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije because he feared that his refusal would preclude his obtaining the necessary documents to leave Yugoslavia and enter Belgium. During the three or four meetings held after petitioner’s selection as the incoming chairman, he sat in the front of the room, along with the then chairman, to learn the rules and procedures of the job.

Petitioner departed from Yugoslavia in August, 1958, prior to being formally installed or taking on the duties of the branch chairmanship.

Petitioner’s testimony, corroborated by the testimony of an expert witness [810]*810on his behalf, clearly demonstrates that the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije functioned primarily as an organization to foster social and athletic events, and that membership therein included all students from approximately eleven to fifteen years of age as well as youths who worked from ages fifteen to twenty-five.

We now examine the contentions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in contesting petitioner’s citizenship and recommending its denial.

FIRST ISSUE:

“MEMBERSHIP IN COMMUNIST AFFILIATED ORGANIZATION”

The Government contends that petitioner’s membership in the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije precludes his naturalization by virtue of Section 313 of the Act, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1424, footnote 2 supra, and that such membership did not come within any of the exemptions set forth in subsection (d) thereof.

I

In order to constitute an organization, membership in which would disqualify the petitioner from citizenship, the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije must be a section, subsidiary, branch, affiliate or subdivision 3 of the Communist Political Association 4 or the Communist or other totalitarian party of a foreign state.5

It seems to us that the word “affiliate” as used in the context of the statute6 means a subdivision or branch so affiliated that it is in essence part of the Communist Party itself. But the evidence before us indicates that the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije may not be that kind of an organization. Our conclusion is confirmed by the findings of the U. S. Board of Immigration and Naturalization Appeals in Matter of Pust decided on June 8, 1965, Case No. 1482, which seems to hold that, while Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije is a “Communist controlled organization”, it is not that kind of a section, subsidiary, branch, subdivision or affiliate of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia as is, for instance, “SKOJ”, the “Communist Youth Union of Yugoslavia”, which is an integral part of the Communist Party.

But even if the Narodna Omladina Jugoslavije is a proscribed organization within the purview of Section 313(a) of the Act7 as an affiliate of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, nevertheless the evidence before us and the applicable case law on the subject compel the additional determination that the petitioner’s membership therein was excusable under the law.8

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Bluebook (online)
260 F. Supp. 807, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-naturalization-of-klajic-cacd-1966.