Petition of Ajlouny, 216060.

• Decision Date: 23 April 1948
• Docket Number: No. 216060.,216060.
• Citation: 77 F. Supp. 327
• Parties: Petition of AJLOUNY.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

77 F. Supp. 327

Petition of AJLOUNY.

No. 216060.

District Court, E. D. Michigan, S. D.

April 23, 1948.

George Bashara, of Detroit, Mich., for petitioner.

Bernard E. Steen and Roland W. Gearing, both of Detroit, Mich., for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, United States Dept. of Justice.

LEVIN, District Judge.

The petitioner, a native and citizen of Palestine, seeks naturalization as a citizen of the United States. The Immigration and Naturalization Service opposes his petition on two grounds: (1) That he made a claim for exemption from military service as a neutral alien under the provisions of Sec. 3(a) of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 303(a), and is therefore barred from citizenship, notwithstanding the fact that he shortly thereafter withdrew his claim for exemption; and (2) That if not thus barred, he is, nevertheless, not entitled to citizenship because the filing of the claim for exemption while the United States was at war, in and of itself, makes it impossible for him to satisfy the requirements of the statute that during the required period of residence in this country prior to the filing of his petition for naturalization he "has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States". 8 U.S.C.A. § 707(a) (3).

The petitioner entered the United States in 1935. He registered with a local Selective Service Board on October 16, 1940, and on November 26, 1941, was given the classification applicable to a non-declarant alien. On December 20, 1941, after this country entered the second World War, the Selective Service regulations were amended, making all male persons between the ages of twenty and forty-five years, residing in the United States and not specifically exempted from the regulations, liable for military service. On September 17, 1942, the local board reclassified the petitioner 1A, thus making him eligible for the induction process.

On September 21, 1942, he completed a form known as "Alien's Personal History and Statement", which contained a statement that he did not object to service in the Armed Forces of the United States, but that he had the exclusive obligation, with no help available from any other source, to support his wife, two daughters, a widowed mother and a crippled sister, all residing in Palestine. He further stated that he was doing all that he could to aid America's war effort by buying bonds and working in a defense factory.

Palestine, at that time, had been listed by the Selective Service Director as a neutral country, although subsequently, in December, 1943, he deleted it from the list of neutral countries previously furnished by him to the local boards.

The basis for one of the exemptions from military service was set forth in 50 U.S.C. A.Appendix, § 303(a): "That any citizen or subject of a neutral country shall be relieved from liability for training and service under this Act if, prior to his induction into the land or naval forces, he has made application to be relieved from such liability in the manner prescribed by * * * the President, but any person who makes such application shall thereafter be debarred from becoming a citizen of the United States."

On November 2, 1942, the petitioner, a non-declarant alien, executed the appropriate Selective Service form, known as form 301, in which he applied as a neutral alien for relief from liability for military service and he was given the classification which recognized such a status.

On February 9, 1943, while the United States was still in the bitter throes of the war¹, he voluntarily appeared before his local board and asked permission to cancel his previous claim for exemption. With the approval of his draft board and under the authority of local board memorandum 112 of the National Headquarters of Selective Service System permitting the withdrawal of such a claim for exemption if the registrant filed an application for voluntary induction, he made the following endorsement upon his form 301: "I hereby cancel and rescind my former action * * * in signing and executing this application and request that I be hereby classified in 1A and processed for induction into the military service of the United States."

He thus rescinded his former action and made another application in which he accepted the obligation to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States.

On the hearing before the naturalization examiner, he was invited to offer an explanation for his original application on form 301. His answer was, "I had a wife and two children, and with thirty dollars a month I couldn't support them because they were living in Europe. When they gave the allotment, I withdrew this claim for exemption and asked to be reclassified."

On February 25, 1943, he was again reclassified 1A, and being an alien, he was required to be processed by the Intelligence Branch of the Army in order to determine his moral qualifications. He was found "acceptable by Headquarters Sixth Service Command, Chicago, Illinois, and otherwise qualified for military service". He was submitted for induction on May 7, 1943, was found physically unfit and was given the designation 4F, the classification for those rejected for physical reasons. The report of the induction station medical officer is not available, but in response to an inquiry of the naturalization examiner, the petitioner gave as the cause for his rejection, "something they found that happened when I was young".

Under these circumstances, do the statutes of the...