U.S.

Department of Justice

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Bo"rd of Immigration Appeals
Office of the Clerk
5/07 Lef.'sb11rg Pike. S11ite 2000
Faf/s Ch11rch. J'irgi11ia 20530

DHS - ICE Office of Chief Counsel OAKDALE 2

1010 E. Whatley Rd.
OAKDALE, LA 71463

Name: CADET, PATRICK

A 041-584-694
Date of this notice: 6/15/2015

Enclosed is a copy of the Board's decision and order in the above-referenced case.
Sincerely,

DonrtL c

t1AA)

Donna Carr
Chief Clerk
Enclosure
Panel Members:
Adkins-Blanch, Charles K.

Userteam: Docket

For more unpublished BIA decisions, visit

www.irac.net/unpublished/index/
Cite as: Patrick Cadet, A041 584 694 (BIA June 15, 2015)

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Murray, Laura
FIAP, PLLC
Six Beacon Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02108

U.S. Department of Justice

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Board ofImmigration Appeals

Office ofthe Clerk
5/07 !.eesburg Pike. S111te WOO
Falls Church. Virginia 20530

DHS - ICE Office of Chief Counsel OAKDALE 2

1010 E. Whatley Rd.
OAKDALE, LA 71463

Name: CADET, PATRICK

A 041-584-694
Date of this notice: 6/15/2015

Enclosed is a copy of the Board's decision in the above-referenced case. This copy is being
provided to you as a courtesy. Your attorney or representative has been served with this
decision pursuant to 8 C.F.R. 1292.S(a). If the attached decision orders that you be
removed from the United States or affirms an Immigration Judge's decision ordering that you
be removed, any petition for review of the attached decision must be filed with and received
by the appropriate court of appeals within 30 days of the date of the decision.
Sincerely,

DorutL

t1/lA)

Donna Carr
Chief Clerk
Enclosure
Panel Members:
Adkins-Blanch, Charles K.

Userteam:

Cite as: Patrick Cadet, A041 584 694 (BIA June 15, 2015)

Immigrant & Refugee Appellate Center, LLC | www.irac.net

CADET, PATRICK
A041-584-694
KROME PROCESSING SERVICE CENTE
18201 SW 12TH STREET
MIAMI, FL 33194

U.S. Department of Justice

Eecutive Office for Immigration Review

Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals

.Falls Church, Virginia 20530

File: A041 584 694-0akdale, LA

Date:

In re: PATRICK CADET

JUN lo 2015

MOTION
ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT: Laura M. Murray-Tjan, Esquire
ON BEHALF OF DHS:

Lorraine C. Griffin
Assistant Chief Counsel

APPLICATION: Reconsideration; termination

The respondent has filed a timely motion seeking reconsideration of the Board's January 23,
2015, decision dismissing his appeal from the Immigration Judge's decision denying his
derivative claim to United States Citizenship under former section 321 of the Immigration and
Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1432. See section 240(c)(6) of the Act, 8 U.S.C. 1229a(c)(6);
8 C.F.R. 1003.2(b). The Department of Homeland Security opposes this motion. The motion
will be granted.
Under former section 32l (a)(3) of the Act, a child born out of wedlock to alien parents could
derive United States citizenship through the naturalization of his or her mother, but only if "the
paternity of the child had not been established by legitimation." In our prior order, we
concluded that the respondent did not establish that he derived United States citizenship though
his mother because his paternity was established by legitimation according to Haitian law.
The respondent now seeks reconsideration in light of the Board's recent decision in Matter of
Cross, 26 I&N Dec. 485 (BIA 2015). He argues that in his case paternity was not established by
legitimation within the meaning of former section 321 of the Act since "(p]aternity is not
established without the "requisite act," specifically "the subsequent marriage of his or her
parents." See Respondent's Motion at 2. In support of his position, the respondent has
resubmitted for the record a publication of the Library of Congress titled "Haiti: Legitimation of
Out-of-Wedlock Children." See Motion Tab CC.
In the context of section 321(a)(3) of the Act, where a jurisdiction requires an affirmative act
to legitimate an out-of-wedlock child, paternity is not established without the requisite act, even
if the jurisdiction has enacted a law to place children on equal footing without regard to the
circumstances of their birth. See Matter of Cross, supra, at 489-90. The Haitian Presidential
Decree of January 27, 1959, equalized the rights and duties of legitimate children and children
born out of wedlock provided that an acknowledgment of the child has been voluntarily executed
or declared by virtue of a court judgment. See Matter of Mesias, 18 I&N Dec. 298, 302
(BIA 1982); see also Civil Code D'Haiti, Art. 305. As we noted in our prior order, the record
contains an extract from the Registry of the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Port-au-Prince
indicating that the respondent's natural father officially recognized him as his son under Haitian
law when, on March 12, 1973, he officially registered the respondent's birth. The Library of
Cite as: Patrick Cadet, A041 584 694 (BIA June 15, 2015)

Immigrant & Refugee Appellate Center, LLC | www.irac.net

IN REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS

A04 I 384 694 .

Congress report, however, explains that while "paternity" is established by a declaration of
acknowledgement before a competent official of the civil status, legitimation of a child born out
of wedlock requires either the subsequent marriage of the parents, or a judgment to legitimate the
child. See Civil Code D'Haiti, Art. 302

ORDER: The motion to reconsider is granted.

FURTHER ORDER: The record is remanded to the Immigration Judge for further
proceedings consistent with this decision.

The respondent, whose petition for judicial review of the Board's prior order is currently
pending, is advised to inform the United States Court of Appeals for the Firth Circuit of this
decision. See Cadet v. Lynch, No. 15-60123 (5th Cir., filed Feb. 23, 2015).

2
Cite as: Patrick Cadet, A041 584 694 (BIA June 15, 2015)

Immigrant & Refugee Appellate Center, LLC | www.irac.net

Upon consideration, we will grant the respondent's timely motion to reconsider, and remand
the record to the Immigration Judge for further consideration of the respondent's claim to United
States citizenship. 1 Accordingly, the following orders will be entered.