Santori v. USA
Case Date: 06/29/1994
Court: United States Court of Appeals
Docket No: 94-1162
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June 28, 1994 [NOT FOR PUBLICATION] UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ___________________ No. 94-1162 JOSE FUFI SANTORI, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant, Appellee. __________________ APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO [Hon. Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, U.S. District Judge] ___________________ ___________________ Before Selya, Cyr and Boudin, Circuit Judges. ______________ ___________________ Celso E. Lopez on brief for appellant. ______________ Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, and Maria Hortensia _____________ _______________ Rios Gandara, Assistant United States Attorney, on brief for ____________ appellee. __________________ __________________ Per Curiam. Appellant Jose Santori, a natural born ___________ citizen of the United States, appeals the dismissal by the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico of his request (1) for a declaratory judgment that he has the right to renounce his United States citizenship before any federal court and become a non-citizen national of the United States and a citizen only of Puerto Rico; (2) that the court set a date on which he can renounce his United States citizenship; and (3) that, insofar as the Immigration and Naturalization Act [INA], 8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., prevents __ ___ any citizen from renouncing his citizenship and becoming a non-citizen national, the court declare the INA unconstitutional. The district court dismissed this case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The Article III issues involved raise interesting questions, but we are entitled to affirm the dismissal on the ground that no substantial question is presented on the merits despite jurisdictional doubts, see ___ United States v. Connell, 6 F.3d 27, 29 (1st Cir. 1993) ______________ _______ (citing cases), and choose to do so in this case. Congress has broad authority over conditions and procedures for obtaining and renouncing citizenship, see Davis v. District ___ _____ ________ Director, INS, 481 F. Supp. 1178, 1183-84 n.8 (D.D.C. 1979), _____________ and Santori has provided us with no authority nor any reasoned argument to suggest that it has exceeded the -2- constitutional limits by refusing to afford him the option he seeks, namely, to renounce his United States citizenship while remaining a national of this country. Affirmed. See 1st Cir. Loc. R. 27.1. ________ ___ -3- |