Vazquez MacIas v. Blanche

── Vazquez MacIas v. Blanche ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Date: June 05, 2026 Category: General NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUN 5 2026 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT JOSE ALBERTO VAZQUEZ MACIAS, No. 24-5766 Agency No. Petitioner, A070-735-365 v. MEMORANDUM* TODD BLANCHE, Acting Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Argued and Submitted April 14, 2026 Pasadena, California Before: PAEZ, CALLAHAN, and BUMATAY, Circuit Judges. Jose Alberto Vazquez Macias (“Vazquez”) petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissing his appeal from an Immigration Judge’s order of removal. He argues that he derived United States citizenship from his mother, a naturalized citizen, under former 8 U.S.C. § 1432 (1994) (“Section 1432”), repealed by Child Citizenship Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-395, § 103(a), * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. 114 Stat. 1631, 1632 (2000). Our review is de novo. Minasyan v. Gonzales, 401 F.3d 1069, 1074 (9th Cir. 2005). Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(5)(A), we hold that Vazquez derived citizenship from his naturalized mother. We therefore grant the petition. 1. Vazquez’s parents, Jose Alberto Vazquez Perez and Yolana Macias Mendiola (“Macias”), are Mexican nationals. They were married in the state of Baja California, Mexico. They had their only son, Vazquez, on December 4, 1981, also in Baja California. In 1987, Macias and Vazquez moved to California to join Vazquez’s father, who had previously relocated to California. Vazquez’s father abandoned the family in Hawaiian Gardens, California, in 1987. Macias has not seen Vazquez’s father since. On April 15, 1996, Macias secured a court order from the First Instance Family Court of Tijuana, Baja California (“Tijuana Court”), authorizing her to “carry out immigration and passport procedures” for Vazquez (“Tijuana Court Order” or “Order”). It provides, in pertinent part: Considering that the present case was proven with [] testimony . . . that Mr. JOSE ALBERTO VAZQUEZ PEREZ abandoned the plaintiff, Mrs. YOLANDA MACIAS MENDIOLA, and her youngest son named JOSE ALBERTO VAZQUEZ MACIAS, for approximately nine years, and that the petitioner is the one who has always been responsible for the custody and support of her minor son, with support in article 418 of the civil code in force in the State, the undersigned judge decrees the necessary authorization so that the petitioner can carry out immigration and passport procedures for said minor . . . . 2 24-5766 Article 418 of the Baja California Civil Code provides that children may not “leave the home” of their parents without parental permission “or a decree from the competent authority.”1 Macias became a naturalized citizen on August 16, 1996, when Vazquez was fourteen years old. In 2003, Vazquez’s father secured a divorce decree in Baja California. It noted no prior separation of the couple. 2. Vazquez claims derivative citizenship from his mother, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen after his birth. Because his mother naturalized in 1996, his claim to citizenship is governed by former Section 1432. See, e.g., Giha v. Garland, 12 F.4th 922, 932 (9th Cir. 2021).