Henrik MANNERFRID, Appellant, v. Herbert BROWNELL, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, Appellee

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit1956-10-18No. No. 13242

238 F.2d 32

Summary · law.co

Holding. The court affirmed the District Court's judgment granting the Attorney General's motion for summary judgment in favor of the government, permitting Mannerfrid's deportation.

Mannerfrid, a Swedish alien, entered the United States in 1941 and was admitted as a permanent resident in 1949. In 1943, he had filed a military service exemption application, which under applicable law barred him from citizenship. When he later applied for naturalization in 1951, his application was denied and the denial was affirmed on appeal based on this bar to citizenship. The Attorney General subsequently sought to deport Mannerfrid, arguing that because he was ineligible for citizenship at the time of his entry, he was excludable under immigration law and therefore deportable.

Mannerfrid countered that the Attorney General had previously approved his pre-examination application and found him eligible for permanent residence in 1948, before he reentered the United States with a visa in 1949. He argued that the courts' earlier findings that he was lawfully admitted were binding, and that the government was equitably estopped from deporting him based on the Attorney General's prior determination.

The District Court granted the Attorney General's motion for summary judgment, and the appellate court affirmed without adding further analysis to the lower court's reasoning.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

Whether an alien debarred from citizenship due to filing a military service exemption application is deportable as ineligible to citizenship at time of entry
Whether the Attorney General's prior approval of an alien's pre-examination application and admission as permanent resident precludes later deportation proceedings
Whether prior court findings of lawful admission create res judicata or equitable estoppel against the government in deportation proceedings

Procedural posture

Mannerfrid appealed the District Court's grant of summary judgment for the Attorney General in a civil action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against threatened deportation.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion · public domain

majority opinion

PRETTYMAN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Mannerfrid instituted in the District Court a civil action for declaratory judgment and for injunctive and other relief. He alleged that the defendant Attorney General of the United States was about to deport him. In brief the facts developed in the complaint and answer were that Mannerfrid entered the United States in 1941 and obtained successive extensions of time to remain here until he was admitted as a permanent resident in April, 1949. Thereafter on approximately thirteen occasions he received reentry permits and reentered the United States under such permits. Meantime, in March, 1943, he executed and filed a form known as DSS Form 301, which is an application by an alien for relief from military service.

In 1951 Mannerfrid applied for naturalization. The District Court for the Southern District of New York denied the application because Mannerfrid had filed DSS Form 301. The applicable statute provided that an alien might claim exemption from military service “but any person who makes such application shall thereafter be debarred from becoming a citizen of the United States”. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the District Court.

A provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act reads as follows:

“(a) Any alien in the United States * * * shall, upon the order of the Attorney General, be deported who—

“(1) at the time of entry was within one or more of the classes of aliens excludable by the law existing at the time of such entry;

* * *.

The Immigration Act of 1924 provided: “No alien ineligible to citizenship shall be admitted to the United States * * * [with immaterial exceptions.] ” And the same Act, as amended in 1945, provided :

“The term ‘ineligible to citizenship’, when used in reference to any individual, includes an individual who is debarred from becoming a citizen of the United States under * * * section 3(a) of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, as amended * * *."

The Attorney General contends that under the foregoing statutory provisions Mannerfrid was, by final decision of the Court of Appeals, debarred from becoming a citizen under Section 3(a) of the Selective Service Act; that he therefore could not be lawfully admitted to the United States; that therefore he was excludable at the time of his entry; and, finally, that therefore he must be deported.

Mannerfrid says that in 1948 he presented to the Attorney General an application for pre-examination; that the Attorney General found that he was not ineligible for citizenship or admission to permanent residence; and that he thereafter went to Canada and returned with a visa as a permanent resident. He says that both the District Court in New York and the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recited, and thus found, that he was lawfully admitted into the United States for permanent residence in 1949. His argument is that the determination of the Attorney General, never having been reversed or modified, is binding upon the Immigration and Naturalization Service; that the courts findings are res judicata; and that the Government is estopped on equitable principles from deporting him by the Attorney General’s ruling.

District Judge Youngdahl wrote a concise and complete memorandum opinion and granted the Attorney General’s motion for summary judgment. We agree with his discussion and think nothing need be added to it. Upon that basis the judgment must be and is

Affirmed.

. Declaratory Judgments Act, 62 Stat. 964 (1948), as amended, 68 Stat. 890 (1954), 28 U.S.O. § 2201.

. Application of Mannerfrid, 101 F.Supp. 446 (1951).

. Sec. 3(a), Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, 54 Stat. 885, as amended by the Act of Dec. 20, 1941, 55 Stat. 845 [now 50 U.S.O.A.Appendix, § 454(a)],

. Mannerfrid v. United States, 2 Cir., 200 F.2d 730 (1952), certiorari denied 345 U.S. 918, 73 S.Ct. 729, 97 L.Ed. 1351 (1953).

. Sec. 241(a) (1), 66 Stat. 204 (1952), 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251(a) (1).

. Sec. 13(c), 43 Stat. 162 [now 8 U.S.C.A. § 1182(a) (22)].

. Sec. 28(c), 43. Stat. 168, as amended by the Act of Oct. 29, 1945, 59 Stat. 551 [now 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101(a) (19)].

. 145 F.Supp. 55 (1956).