UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA L’ASSOCIATION DES AMERICAINS ACCIDENTELS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil Action No. 20-cv-03573 (TSC) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE, et al, Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiffs L’Association des Américains Accidentels and twenty named individuals have sued the United States Department of State, the Secretary of State, and the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs. Plaintiffs allege that the State Department’s 2015 Final Rule finalizing a citizenship renunciation processing fee violates the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) and customary international law, and that the imposition of any fee is unconstitutional under the Fifth, First, and Eighth Amendments. Compl., ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 10–15. Defendants have moved for dismissal pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) on the customary international law and Eighth Amendment claims, for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 on the remaining claims, and in the alternative for summary judgment on the customary international law and Eighth Amendment claims. Defs.’ Mot., ECF No. 11 at 1. Plaintiffs have cross-moved for summary judgment on the Fifth Amendment, First Amendment, and customary international law claims. Pls.’ Cross-Mot., ECF No. 13 at 1–2. For Page 1 of 28 the reasons set forth below, the court will grant Defendants’ motion to dismiss and for summary judgment and deny Plaintiffs’ cross-motion for summary judgment. I. BACKGROUND L’Association des Américains Accidentels is a Paris-based non-profit organization whose stated goal is to “represent and defend Accidental Americans who live outside the United States from the adverse effects of certain American extraterritorial laws.” Compl. ¶ 20. Plaintiffs describe “Accidental Americans” as “individuals whom the U.S. deems to be American citizens as a result of being born in the U.S., but who have lived abroad most if not all of their lives as citizens of another country.” Id. ¶ 127 (citing Peter J. Spiro, Citizenship Overreach, 38 MICH. J. INT’L L. 167, 167 (2017)). Plaintiffs claim that the State Department’s $2,350 fee (“Renunciation Fee”) to process a request for a Certificate of Loss Nationality (“CLN”) in renunciation cases, violates the APA, the Constitution, and customary international law. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief. A. Statutory Background The process for renunciation of U.S. citizenship outside of the U.S. is governed by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) § 349(a)(5), 8 U.S.C. § 1481(a)(5), which provides that a U.S. citizen can expatriate and renounce their U.S. citizenship by “making a formal renunciation of nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.” A U.S. citizen seeking to renounce their citizenship while abroad must appear in person before a U.S. consular or diplomatic officer and sign an oath of renunciation. 1 Under 8 U.S.C. § 1501, a U.S. diplomatic or consular officer 1 According to the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for administering domestic expatriations under § 1481(a)(6)–(7). See Defs’ Mem. in Supp. of Mot., ECF No. …
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