Fedorenko v. United States
"Fedorenko v. United States" is a significant legal case that examines the denaturalization of Feodor Fedorenko, a man who immigrated to the United States after World War II under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. Born in Ukraine, Fedorenko gained U.S. citizenship in 1970, but a decade later, evidence emerged that he had concealed his role as an armed guard at the Nazi extermination camp Treblinka, where he was accused of committing atrocities. The U.S. government initiated denaturalization proceedings based on claims that he had obtained his citizenship through willful misrepresentation.
Initially, a district court ruled in favor of Fedorenko, asserting that his service was involuntary and therefore not material to his immigration status. However, this decision was reversed by the Supreme Court, which emphasized the explicit language of the Displaced Persons Act that disqualified anyone who assisted the enemy or persecuted civilians from eligibility. The Supreme Court concluded that regardless of Fedorenko's claims of coercion, the facts of his actions made him ineligible for a visa. Ultimately, Fedorenko was deported to the Soviet Union in 1984, where he was executed two years later. This case highlights the complexities of immigration law, citizenship, and the historical context of post-World War II justice.
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Subject Terms
Fedorenko v. United States
The Case: U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning denaturalization
Date: Decided on January 21, 1981
Significance:The Fedorenko decision established that the citizenship of a naturalized citizen may be revoked in cases when individuals intentionally provided false information to enter the country or to obtain materialization.
Following World War II, Feodor Fedorenko, who was born in Ukraine, obtained a visa to enter the United States under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 (DPA), which did not apply to anyone who had voluntarily assisted the enemy or had participated in persecuting civilians. Fedorenko became a naturalized citizen in 1970. A decade later, witnesses testified that he had concealed his service as an armed guard at Treblinka, a Nazi extermination camp, and that he had committed atrocities against inmates. Fedorenko claimed that the German army had forced him to serve in the camp, although he admitted that he had never tried to escape. The government brought denaturalization action under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which requires revocation of citizenship that was procured by “willful misrepresentation.” Ruling in favor of Fedorenko, the district court held that because his service in the camp had been involuntary, his misrepresentation was not material to his admission.
Reversing the ruling by a 7-2 margin, the Supreme Court ordered Fedorenko’s denaturalization based on the fact that the language of the DPA made him ineligible to receive a visa. Speaking for the majority, Justice Thurgood Marshall criticized the district court for ignoring the clear and explicit wording of the DPA. Once the district court determined that either immigration or naturalization had resulted from willful misrepresentation, it had no discretion to excuse Fedorenko’s conduct. The DPA, moreover, referred to the objective fact of persecuting others, so that even if he had acted under duress, the DPA would not have allowed him to enter the country. In 1984, Fedorenko was deported to the Soviet Union, where he was executed by a firing squad two years later.
Bibliography
Bosniak, Linda. The Citizen and the Alien: Dilemmas of Contemporary Membership. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2008.
LeMay, Michael, and Elliott Robert Barkan, eds. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.