Case: 16-41413 Document: 00514338851 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/06/2018 IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 16-41413 United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED February 6, 2018 ERNESTO GONZALEZ-SEGURA, Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Plaintiff–Appellant, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS, III, U. S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Defendant–Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Before JONES, SMITH, and PRADO, Circuit Judges. EDWARD C. PRADO, Circuit Judge: Ernesto Gonzalez–Segura was born out of wedlock in Mexico in 1969. His father was a U.S. citizen, and his mother was a Mexican national. Gonzalez– Segura now seeks derivative U.S. citizenship. He believes two documents substantiate his claim: his birth certificate (which a Mexican court revised in 2007) and his father’s 1970 holographic will. The district court concluded that he could not as a matter of law prove his derivative citizenship under former Case: 16-41413 Document: 00514338851 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/06/2018 No. 16-41413 Immigration and Nationality Act 1 §§ 301(a)(7), 2 309(a). 3 We AFFIRM the district court’s summary judgment against him. I. BACKGROUND Gonzalez–Segura was born out of wedlock on June 13, 1969, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. His biological mother is Natalia Segura, a Mexican national. His biological father is Nicolas Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen. He has two siblings from the same parents. In 1970, his father drafted a holographic will on the back of a 1963 land conveyance document. Translated from Spanish, the 1970 holographic will stated: I Nicolas Gonzalez am[] writing this letter to state that I am leaving this property for Natalia Segura and my sons Ernesto, Ruben, and Ernesto Gonzalez paid in full and no debt on this month of August 8, [1970]. 4 Nicolas’s signature followed the note. In 1972, his mother married Lorenzo Sandoval. That same year, the couple registered Gonzalez–Segura with the Civil Registry of Rio Bravo in Mexico, listing him as their son. The registration did not acknowledge Gonzalez–Segura’s biological father, Nicolas. Three years later, Nicolas died. In 1990, Gonzalez–Segura obtained legal permanent residency in the United States. Five years later, he was excluded and deported under INA 1 As explained below, the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act as amended (hereinafter “INA”) governs Gonzalez–Segura’s claim. This opinion’s discussion of the INA refers exclusively to the version of the Act in effect in 1969, the year of Gonzalez–Segura’s birth. Our ruling does not govern the interpretation of subsequent versions of the INA. Gonzalez–Segura suggests that the panel should consider how the INA as amended in 1986 applies to his claim. As explained below, the 1986 version of the Act was not in effect at the time of his birth, so it cannot govern his claim to derivative citizenship. 2 Codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a)(7) (1966) (hereinafter “INA § 301(a)(7)”). 3 Codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1409(a) (1952) (hereinafter “INA § 309(a)”). 4 The brackets note corrections to typographical errors in the expert’s translation. 2 Case: 16-41413 Document: 00514338851 Page: 3 Date Filed: 02/06/2018 ...
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