A Tangled Web of Lies Shall Lead You Nowhere

It may come as a surprise to some, but on the N-400 Application for Naturalization (citizenship), a petition necessary to go from being a mere green card holder to being a United States citizen, asks the following question:

(12)  Between March 23, 1933, and May 8, 1945, did you work or associate in any way (either directly or indirectly) with:

1. The Nazi government of Germany?
2. Any government in any area (1) occupied by, (2) allied with, or (3) established with the help of the Nazi government of Germany? 
3. Any German, Nazi, or S.S. military unit, paramilitary unit, self-defense unit, vigilante unit, citizen unit, police unit, government agency or office, extermination camp, concentration camp, prisoner of war camp, prison, labor camp, or transit camp?

For most this question is an obvious check in the “NO” box but for some this question needs some serious consideration.  Lying on an immigration application is grounds for removal from the United States at any point in the future when the truth is discovered.

In a recently published article titled “Justice DepartmentBoard upholds deportation of accused Nazi” the article’s subject John (Ivan) Kalymon, age 90, was ordered removed from the United States because of his past conduct in Nazi persecution during World War II. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Kalymon in 2004 seeking to revoke his U.S. citizenship which he acquired in 1955.  The court found that he had participated in the Nazi extermination of European Jewry. 

Kalymon checked “NO” when he should have checked “YES” and as a result his fraudulently obtained status as a United Status citizen will be revoked and he will be deported back to Germany or any other country that will take him.

If you lie on an immigration application that lie can come back and bite you in the behind forty plus years later. While this is an extreme example, it is important to answer all the questions asked on the applications to the best of your ability so you don’t have to live with the knowledge that you may be deported at any time if at any point someone discovers that you were granted your current status based on fraud.