Cortez v. Rubio

── Cortez v. Rubio ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: May 18, 2026 Category: United States Civil Case: 25-20339 Document: 48-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 05/18/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ____________ United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit No. 25-20339 FILED ____________ May 18, 2026 Lyle W. Cayce Hector Xavier Cortez, Clerk Plaintiff—Appellant, versus Marco Rubio, Secretary, U.S. Department of State, Defendant—Appellee. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:25-CV-171 ______________________________ Before Higginbotham, Smith, and Oldham, Circuit Judges. Jerry E. Smith, Circuit Judge: Hector Cortez challenges the dismissal of his claims under 8 U.S.C. § 1503(a), the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), and the Mandamus Act. He claims that he was born in Laredo, Texas. About a decade ago, Cor- tez used his U.S. passport to travel to Mexico, where he reported his passport stolen. He purportedly found his passport days later. When he returned to the United States, his passport was retained. Since then, he has filed at least four passport applications, all of which have been denied. The Department of State (“DOS”) has noted questionable circum- Case: 25-20339 Document: 48-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 05/18/2026 No. 25-20339 stances involving Cortez’s purported United States birth. For one, his birth attendant, who filed the “Laredo” birth certificate, had been suspected of submitting false birth records. Second, Cortez had a conflicting Mexican birth certificate, one that he failed to clarify despite DOS’s numerous requests. Nor did he provide sufficient early life records to substantiate his birthplace. We dismiss the Section 1503 and constitutional claims for failure to state a claim; remand is futile. We affirm the dismissal of the APA and Mandamus Act claims. I. Facts A. First Passport Denial Cortez supposedly found his passport days after reporting it stolen and traveled to Houston, where his passport was retained. As a precondition to issuing a replacement in 2013, DOS requested “additional information about his birth, particularly early life records.” “At the time of [his] applica- tion,” Cortez “w[as] given a letter identifying additional information or doc- uments that [he] needed to provide to complete processing [his] citizenship service.” Cortez never provided the information. His passport application was denied. B. Second Passport Denial Cortez reapplied for a passport that same year. DOS requested addi- tional information because his “birth record was filed on February 14, 1977[,] by a birth attendant [] suspected of submitting false birth records.” Months later, DOS sent another letter requesting additional information after dis- covering a conflicting birth certificate recorded on April 21, 1977, in “San Nicolas De Las Garza, Nuevo Leon, Mexico.” Cortez needed to “submit a statement explaining why the foreign document [(Mexican birth certificate)] was filed and when/how [he] became aware that conflicting birth records 2 Case: 25-20339 Document: 48-1 Page: 3 Date Filed: 05/18/2026 No. 25-20339 existed.” DOS reques