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On Behalf Of An Ungrateful Nation: Military Naturalization, Aggravated Felonies And The Good Moral Character Requirement., B. Ryan Byrd

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

In the United States military, it is an aggravated felony for naturalization purposes to fraudulently enlist in the military and alter identity documents. This denotation under these circumstances does not require violence, the use of a weapon, or a formal conviction in a court of law. Acts with this designation are statutory permanent bars to citizenship because their presence in an applicant’s record prevents a finding of good moral character, one of the requirements for naturalization. Alternatively, the presence of prior crimes in a legal permanent resident’s background are not serious enough to prevent enlistment in the military. Over 31,000 …