Supreme Court rules in favor of immigrant in headline naturalization case

The Supreme Court ruled today in Maslenjak v. United States (Docket No, 16-309) that an alien, in order to be convicted of procuring naturalization through false representations, must have made a material misrepresentation that effected the decision on the naturalization application. The case generated panic headlines when it went to the Supreme Court because the government had taken the position that any misrepresentation could support a conviction even if the misrepresentation was about some very minor matter (i.e. failing to disclose a speeding ticket from 30 years ago). People were calling our office in a panic that they had heard that the government was going to start taking away peoples citizenship. Everyone can relax now. You can read the opinion here.