11th Circuit Court says U.S. can revoke citizenship of man convicted of crime after being naturalized

An appeals court ruled that the U.S. government can strip a Haitian-American restaurant owner of his citizenship even though he was indicted, arrested and convicted after naturalization. The ruling Tuesday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta makes it more likely that Lionel Jean-Baptiste, originally a Haitian national, may have to surrender his U.S. citizenship certificate and be put in deportation proceedings. The precedent-setting case marks the first time in the court's jurisdictional area that the government is seeking to revoke the citizenship of a naturalized person who was indicted, arrested and convicted after becoming a citizen. Government attorneys usually have sought to revoke the citizenship of people who have lied in their naturalization applications about a criminal record. The government filed papers in 2002 seeking to strip Jean-Baptiste of his citizenship. Jean-Baptiste, who arrived in the United States in 1980, turned to the appeals court when a Miami federal judge ordered his citizenship revoked. In the appeal, government attorneys said Jean-Baptiste ``illegally procured'' his citizenship because he committed a crime while awaiting approval of his application. They argued that he was not a person of ``good moral character'' before becoming a citizen. A three-judge panel of the appeals court agreed Dec. 7. Jean-Baptiste, 57 and a father of five, denies committing a crime. .[more]