Sakarapanee v. Department of Homeland Security, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services

OPINION

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge.

Thanapong Sakarapanee, a citizen of Thailand but a long-time legal resident of the United States, applied for naturalization. The agency known as United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (US-CIS), a part of the Department of Homeland Security, denied his application because Sakarapanee had previously sought and received an early discharge from the United States Navy based on his status as an alien. After administratively appealing USCIS’s decision with no success, Sakarapanee filed a petition in the district court to contest the denial of his…