Case: 17-12709 Date Filed: 08/02/2018 Page: 1 of 11 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 17-12709 ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 0:15-cv-61820-BB GHIASS MOUHAMED ALI, Plaintiff - Appellant, versus DISTRICT DIRECTOR, MIAMI DISTRICT, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, FIELD OFFICE DIRECTOR, OAKLAND PARK FIELD OFFICE, U.S. CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION SERVICES, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DIRECTOR, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, Defendants - Appellees. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (August 2, 2018) Case: 17-12709 Date Filed: 08/02/2018 Page: 2 of 11 Before MARCUS and WILSON, Circuit Judges, and HOWARD, * District Judge. PER CURIAM: Ghiass Mouhamed Ali, a Syrian citizen and national, appeals from the district court’s entry of judgment in favor of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) following a bench trial on his petition challenging USCIS’s denial of his application for naturalization. Ali argues that the district court erred in affirming the denial of his application based on an erroneous factual finding that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity when his daughter, Sablaa Ali, was born. He also argues that the district court erred by relying on the government database records in determining that he was entitled to diplomatic immunity at the time of his daughter’s birth. With the benefit of oral argument, we affirm. I. In 1981, Ali began working at the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Washington D.C. (“Syrian Embassy”) as an Arabic secretary. On November 6, 1984, the Syrian Embassy sent a Notice of Termination of Employment with Foreign Government (“Notice of Termination”) to the United States Department of State (“State Department”) reflecting that Ali’s position as a secretary terminated on November 6, 1984. The Notice of Termination contains an undated * Honorable Marcia Morales Howard, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, sitting by designation. 2 Case: 17-12709 Date Filed: 08/02/2018 Page: 3 of 11 handwritten notation in the upper right corner that reads: “promoted to attaché.”1 On November 16, 1984, Ali left the United States to travel to Syria in order to complete the requirements to become an attaché. He returned to the United States on December 23, 1984. In early December 1984, while Ali was in Syria, his wife gave birth to the couples’ daughter, Sablaa, in Fairfax, Virginia. In 1985 and 2007, the State Department denied Sablaa’s applications for a United States passport based on its determination that Sablaa had not acquired United States citizenship at birth because Ali held diplomatic status at the time of her birth. On February 23, 2006, Sablaa filed a Form I-130 (“Petition for Alien Relative”) on Ali’s behalf. USCIS approved the request on May 29, 2006, based on its conclusion that Sablaa was a United States citizen. Ali then filed a Form I- 485 (“Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status”) to adjust his status to lawful permanent resident, and USCIS approved that request on February 27, 2007. On December 19, ...
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