## Facts

- The United States brought a civil denaturalization action under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a) to revoke Liudas (Liudvikas) Kairys’s citizenship.
- The government alleged Kairys entered the United States under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 (DPA) and later naturalized after concealing that he had served as an armed guard at the Treblinka concentration camp.
- Kairys denied being the person described by the government and claimed a different birth date and birthplace and a wartime history as a POW and forced laborer.
- The central factual dispute at trial was identity: whether the defendant was the same individual reflected in wartime records indicating SS-affiliated camp-guard service.
- The government introduced an SS identification card from German SS records held in Soviet archives, bearing a photograph and thumbprint attributed to Kairys, supported by expert testimony about age/consistency of ink and paper and the method by which the thumbprint would have been placed.
- Kairys challenged the SS card’s authenticity and chain of custody, arguing the possibility of Soviet forgery and irregularities in the thumbprint ink.
- The district court found the government proved, by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence, that Kairys had been a Treblinka guard.
- The district court revoked citizenship on the theory that this service made Kairys ineligible for a DPA visa (Count II) and dismissed counts alleging willful misrepresentation (Counts I and III).
- Kairys appealed the revocation; the United States cross-appealed the dismissal of Counts I and III.

## Issues

1. Whether citizenship was “illegally procured” under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a) because camp-guard service made Kairys ineligible for a DPA visa and thus ineligible to lawfully enter and naturalize.
2. Whether the government met the clear, unequivocal, and convincing standard on identity and wartime service, including whether the SS identification card was properly authenticated and admissible.
3. Whether applying the 1961 amendment to § 1451(a) to a pre-1961 naturalization was impermissibly retroactive or unconstitutional.
4. Whether the denaturalization proceeding violated due process, equal protection, or ex post facto principles, or otherwise denied procedural fairness (including the absence of a jury).

## Decision

- The Seventh Circuit affirmed the judgment revoking Kairys’s citizenship under Count II.
- The court held naturalization is illegally procured if any statutory prerequisite was missing at the time citizenship was granted; a valid visa was required, and DPA ineligibility meant any visa obtained was not valid for naturalization purposes.
- The court upheld the district court’s finding, under the clear, unequivocal, and convincing standard, that Kairys was the person shown in the wartime records and had served as a camp guard.
- The court affirmed evidentiary rulings admitting the SS identification card, concluding authentication was sufficient and objections about possible forgery affected weight rather than admissibility.
- The court rejected retroactivity and constitutional challenges, treating denaturalization as a civil remedy correcting an unlawful grant of citizenship rather than a criminal punishment.

## Legal Principles

- Denaturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a) requires the government to prove its case by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that leaves no doubt on the essential elements.
- Citizenship is “illegally procured” if any statutory condition for naturalization was not satisfied when naturalization was granted, including lawful entry on a valid visa.
- Under the DPA, assisting in persecution renders an applicant ineligible for a visa; established camp-guard service falls within that bar, making subsequent naturalization legally defective even without proof of intent to misrepresent.
- Evidence is authenticated if there is sufficient support for a finding that the item is what the proponent claims; challenges such as alleged foreign fabrication typically bear on evidentiary weight, not admissibility.
- Denaturalization proceedings are civil; applying statutory clarifications to earlier naturalizations and revoking unlawfully obtained citizenship does not constitute ex post facto punishment.

## Conclusion

The Seventh Circuit upheld revocation of Kairys’s citizenship because the government proved he served as a Nazi concentration-camp guard, which made him ineligible for a DPA visa and therefore ineligible to lawfully naturalize; the court also sustained admission of key wartime documentation and rejected retroactivity and constitutional objections.


United States v. Kairys, 782 F.2d 1374 (7th Cir. 1986)