Sections 1503(b) and (c) set forth several procedural undertakings necessary in order to access
judicial review: application for a certificate of identity, travel to a U.S. port of entry and request
for admission, and seeking relief under the federal habeas corpus statute.617 The question as to
which steps aggrieved parties must follow to challenge State Department decisions regarding
access to U.S. passports in court, and under which circumstances, arose in a 2018 ruling by the
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.618 The circuit encompasses three states (Texas, Louisiana, and
Mississippi), and includes a large portion of the U.S. southern border. Its decision in Hinojosa et
al. v. Horn et al. means in practice that individuals whose passports are cancelled while they are
in Mexico would have to apply for admission at a port of entry along the southern border,
which currently entails significant hardships. In a petition for writ of certiorari from the Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals in the case, the petitioners describe the implications of a request for
admission to the United States pursuant to § 1503(c):
Petitioners would be required to accept being treated as arriving aliens . . . Not
having proper entry documents, they would be inadmissible…. If local detention
facilities were full (as they often are), or space was needed for new arrivals, they
could be sent anywhere in the U.S. for detention and hearing, even if they had local
counsel. Detention could last for many months before a merits hearing on their
citizenship was held.619
Burden(s) of proof. The relative burdens of establishing citizenship or justifying an agency
passport denial predicated on non-citizenship vary depending on the cause of action and
specific jurisdiction, with courts across the country applying different rules.620
In passport applications to the U.S. Department of State, 22 C.F.R. § 51.42 provides that
applicants must establish birth in the U.S. by a preponderance of the evidence.621 Under the
Administrative Procedure Act (discussed in the next section), the agency bears the burden of
proof to justify its denial of a passport.
In claims seeking a declaratory judgment of citizenship under INA § 1503, the courts are
divided on the application of the burden and standard of proof. A recent article in the U.S.
Attorney Bulletin states that the burden of proof in a § 1503 (a) action lies with “the person
claiming U.S. citizenship.”622 The Bulletin reflects the evidentiary scheme established in the
Fifth Circuit.623 The Fifth Circuit’s approach is critical because it covers an area where many
cases of passport denials and revocations are concentrated.624 Based on a review of standards
in all federal circuits conducted for this report, several federal circuits apply a shared burden
and burden-shifting scheme that is much more favorable to the claimed citizen:
The threshold showing required of a section 1503 plaintiff is minimal. She or he need
only show prima facie evidence of citizenship. Presenting proof of a naturalization
142
UNMAKING AMERICANS
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