Judge Eric Vitaliano
Akran was born, in Nigeria, to unwed parents. His father never “legitimated” him under Nigerian law. His mother was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1996. Admitted as a permanent resident in 1997, Akran became a U.S. citizen by operation of law under 8 USC §1432(a)(3)-(5), which was repealed in 2000. Neither he nor his mother applied for his certificate of citizenship until 2007. Akran’s lawsuit asserting a false imprisonment claim against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act alleged that upon release from imprisonment resulting from felony fraud convictions, immigration officials detained him, for approximately a year until April 3, 2008, despite his status as a citizen. The court dismissed suit, finding Akran’s detention legally privileged. Until the immigration judge was convinced of his Akran’s citizenship—by evidence that his father never legitimated him—the government was justified in detaining Akran as a suspected alien whose felony convictions rendered him subject to removal. Akran’s citizenship remained in dispute until CIS approved his N-600 application on April 3, 2008. Among other things, the delay in obtaining Akran’s release was due, at least in part, to an extension of time requested by his own counsel.
