4th Circuit: False Claim On Form I-9 Renders Alien Inadmissible

On the first page of the Form I-9, there is an attestation section where the employee must attest, under the penalty of perjury, to his citizenship or immigration status by checking one of four boxes provided on the Form.  In a recent decision, the Fourth Circuit held that an individual who falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen on the Form I-9 for the purpose of seeking employment, was "inadmissible" under INA §212(a)(6)(C)(ii)(I). 

The False Claim Bar renders inadmissible any alien who falsely represents, or has falsely represented, himself...to be a citizen of the United States for any purpose or benefit under this Chapter or any other federal or state law.  So when Raymond Dakura, a native of Ghana who came to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa that had expired, completed a Form I-9 and checked the box that he was a citizen, he falsely represented himself to be a citizen of the U.S., and ran afoul of the False Claim Bar.  The truth was that Dakura was not a U.S.