Petition of Zele, 239.
| Decision Date | 28 April 1942 |
| Docket Number | No. 239.,239. |
| Parties | Petition of ZELE. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
Before AUGUSTUS N. HAND, CLARK and FRANK, Circuit Judges.
Kaufman & Cronan, of New York City (Samuel H. Kaufman, Milton S. Gould, and Kenneth A. Slocum, all of New York City, of counsel), for appellant Eugene Zele.
Mathias F. Correa, U. S. Atty., of New York City (John B. Creegan, Asst. Atty. Gen., of New York City, of counsel), for the United States.
This is an appeal from an order denying the petition of Eugene Zele for naturalization. The petitioner first came to the United States as a visitor in September, 1929. On October 19, he filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen as a step in the fraudulent naturalization practices which were being then forwarded among aliens by Harold Van Riper who was convicted of such offenses. United States v. Van Riper, 2 Cir., 113 F.2d 929. It was, of course, the fact that Zele had no right to file a declaration as he was not a resident and only had the status of a visitor. Moreover the declaration which he filed contained the false statement that he had entered the country for permanent residence in 1921. He stated that he signed the document without reading it and when he discovered the statement two days later was afraid "to do anything to correct it" and upon learning that the fraud had been discovered he returned in September, 1932, to Czecho-Slovakia, the country of his origin, where he resided for about two years in the City of Prague. There he married his first wife Helen Kreps, an American citizen. He was granted a visa to come to the United States as her husband and arrived at New York with her for permanent residence in September, 1934. Soon after his return he filed a preliminary declaration of intention to become a citizen dated October 1, 1934, which he filled out himself on a printed form in which he stated: "I have not heretofore made a declaration of intention." His explanation of this statement is that he was told by a woman at the information desk of the naturalization office at No. 641 Washington Street, New York, that: "it would not be necessary to mention my previous first paper, since it was admittedly invalid." The same statement was repeated in his permanent declaration of intention filed November 2, 1934. To his petition for naturalization filed February 19, 1940, he attached his declaration of intention which contained the false statement that he had "not heretofore made a declaration of intention" and in terms made the document a part of the petition.
The petitioner is a physician licensed to practice in the State of New York. An affidavit verified June 24, 1940, which he filed as part of the record before the Examiner in his proceeding for naturalization stated in addition to the facts recited above that in 1931: He also said in his affidavit that he made the statement in his preliminary declaration of intention on October 1, 1934: "that he had never previously filed a declaration of intention," on the advice of the woman at the information desk.
There is nothing in the record indicating that the government attempted to dispute the affidavit of the petitioner that he believed he "was making accurate and truthful statements in his preliminary and first declarations of intention in 1934" and "was certain that the government had complete information about the circumstances connected with my earlier declaration of intention and I would have nothing to gain by attempting to conceal the facts." There is no claim that the petitioner has committed any infraction of law or has behaved other than as a person of good moral character during the five years immediately preceding the date of his petition unless the incorporation by reference of his declaration of intention of November 2, 1934, containing the statement: "I have not heretofore made a...
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