Garcia v. USICE, No. 09-4211-pr (2d Cir. December 29, 2011) (Miner, Wesley, Chin, CJJ)
This interesting derivative citizenship decision – although not a criminal case – is a great read, and flags a potentially important issue for defense lawyers.
Carlos Garcia was born in the Dominican Republic, and his family brought him to the United States when he was five years old. He soon became a permanent resident, and lived with his family on West 107th Street in Manhattan.
Four years after the family emigrated, they vacationed in the D.R. and, while they were there, his parents divorced. The divorce decree gave Garcia’ smother “personal guardianship” over him. Despite the divorce, however, the parents continued to live together on West 107th when they returned to New York. One year later, the whole family moved to West 109th Street and, five years later – six years after the divorce – the …