Born in N.Y., Lived in U.S. for Nearly 70 Years, Subscribed Oath of Allegiance 5 Times

From Moncada v. Rubio , decided Wednesday by the Ninth Circuit (Judge Anthony D. Johnstone, joined by Judges Johnnie B. Rawlinson and Morgan Christen):

Roberto Moncada was born in New York City in July 1950. His father, a Nicaraguan national, worked for Nicaragua's permanent mission to the United Nations. For nearly seventy years, Moncada lived and worked in the United States as an American citizen. Five times he subscribed the oath of allegiance, and five times the government issued Moncada a passport. In the district court's words: "A child was born in America and told by the United States government—his government—that he was an American citizen. And … it told him this again and again and again and again."

The government repeatedly affirmed that Moncada's father's apparent status as a