Justices Challenge Government Position on Stripping Citizenship for Immigrants Over Small Lies

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Supreme Court justices on Wednesday sharply challenged the Justice Department’s lawyer in an immigration case, saying the government’s position risked stripping citizenship from naturalized Americans over minor infractions for which they were never charged.

In a case involving a Bosnian Serb immigrant who lied to immigration officials, Justice Department lawyer Robert Parker told the court that any lie on the naturalization form—even involving such inconsequential facts as a former nickname or once driving over the speed limit—could cost an individual his citizenship.

“Oh, come on,” said Chief Justice John Roberts, presiding over the final argument of the court’s current term. “Twenty years after I was naturalized as a citizen, you knock on my door and say, ‘Guess what, you’re not an American citizen after all?’”

Justice Anthony Kennedy took offense when Mr. Parker sought to minimize the impact of denaturalization, in which an immigrant is reduced to the status of a lawful permanent resident, or green-card holder, who can reapply for citizenship in five years.

Lying in the news.