Washington Post Quotes Professor Chin on New Focus on Citizenship Applicants' 'Moral Character'

Professor Gabriel “Jack” Chin commented for the Washington Post on Aug. 20 about a recent policy memo from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services indicating it will increase its efforts to determine whether citizenship applicants display “good moral character.”

As the Post reported, USCIS called for a more “rigorous, holistic and comprehensive” approach to evaluating those applying for naturalization, stating that “good moral character” (a requirement for obtaining U.S. citizenship since 1790) is defined by an individual’s “behavior, adherence to societal norms, and positive contributions.” The memo said USCIS officers have been instructed to judge “on a case-by-case basis.”

Chin told the Post that the latest guidance is “so loose and discretionary that it is obviously susceptible to arbitrary enforcement.”

Chin is a Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law and holder of the Edward L. Barrett Jr. Endowed Chair at UC Davis School of Law. He is a prolific and much-cited criminal and immigration law scholar whose work has addressed many of the most pressing social issues of our time.