U.S. v. Santa Cruz (9th Cir. 2009)

This should go without saying, but possession of child pornography is a crime of moral turpitude that will have dire immigration consequences.  A recent addition to the list of crimes involving moral turpitude is possession of child pornography, so decided the 9th Circuit.  Santa Cruz, who became a naturalized citizen found to his dismay the seriousness of his past child pornography conviction.  He had applied for and actually became a naturalized citizen, even though he had been previously convicted of the crime.  In the application, there was a question which asked him to describe his past criminal record.  He responded by stating that he broke the law on a certain occasion, but did not describe in detail the nature of the offense.  Despite this admission, he passed through the system and was granted citizenship.  A few years later, the government discovered its mistake.  It learned the crime Santa Cruz mentioned but did not elaborate in his application was possession of child pornography.  Santa Cruz’s conviction stemmed from a search of his computer by custom officials at a border stop a year prior to his applying for naturalization.  In a rare move, after having discovered its mistake, the government sued Santa Cruz in federal court to revoke his naturalization.

The primary issue to be resolved in the case was whether or not possession of child pornography is a crime of moral turpitude.  If the court had decided in Santa Cruz’s favor, he would have retained his citizenship.  Not surprisingly, however, the court ruled against him and, therefore, his citizenship was revoked.  The government demanded that he turn in his naturalization certificate and U.S. passport.  Although not discussed in the case, the government probably began removal proceedings against him afterwards because a conviction of a crime of moral turpitude is a removable offense.