United States Court of Appeals FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Argued December 7, 2017 Decided July 20, 2018 No. 16-5065 JAMES J. KAUFMAN, APPELLANT v. KIRSTJEN M. NIELSEN, SECRETARY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ET AL., APPELLEES Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:14-cv-00695) Amit R. Vora, Supervising Attorney, Georgetown University Law Center, appointed by the court, argued the cause as amicus curiae in support of appellant. With him on the briefs were Steven H. Goldblatt, Director, appointed by the court, and Stephan S. Dalal, Cole H. Mayhew, and Damon R. Porter, Student Counsel. James J. Kaufman, pro se, filed the briefs for appellant. Yamileth G. Davila, Senior Litigation Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, argued the cause for appellees. With her on the brief were Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the time the brief was filed, and 2 Sarah S. Wilson, Senior Litigation Counsel. R. Craig Lawrence, Assistant U.S. Attorney, entered an appearance. Before: TATEL, GRIFFITH, and WILKINS, Circuit Judges. Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge GRIFFITH. GRIFFITH, Circuit Judge: James Kaufman has tried to renounce his U.S. citizenship for more than a decade. In 2014, a field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied Kaufman’s renunciation request, claiming that he lacked the “intention” necessary to relinquish his citizenship under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Kaufman challenged USCIS’s decision in district court under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The court granted summary judgment for USCIS. Because USCIS wrongly interpreted the INA’s intention requirement, we reverse. I A Kaufman is a native-born U.S. citizen, and he holds no dual citizenship with any other country. In 1997, he was convicted in Wisconsin state court of first-degree sexual assault of a minor. Beginning in 2004, while serving his prison sentence, Kaufman began his still-ongoing effort to renounce his U.S. citizenship under the INA. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1481(a), a U.S. citizen may give up his nationality by voluntarily performing any one of seven expatriating acts “with the intention of relinquishing United 3 States nationality.” (emphasis added). 1 One expatriating act, for example, is to make a “formal renunciation” of citizenship while abroad. Id. § 1481(a)(5) (the “foreign-renunciation provision”). Kaufman has sought to relinquish his citizenship through a provision that permits renunciation while on U.S. soil. Id. § 1481(a)(6). This “domestic-renunciation provision” permits Kaufman to forfeit his citizenship while in the United States if he voluntarily and intentionally makes a “formal written renunciation of nationality.” Id. The provision contains several additional requirements, but they are not at issue in this case. The only issue here is whether Kaufman satisfied the “intention” requirement that applies to all seven expatriating acts. 1 Section 1481(a) provides in abbreviated form: (a) A person who is a national of the United States whether by birth or naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voluntarily performing any of the following acts with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality— (1) - (4) [under ...
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