“Confirmed Judges, Confirmed Fears” is a blog series documenting the harmful impact of President Trump’s judges on Americans’ rights and liberties. It includes judges nominated in both his first and second terms.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated by Donald Trump to the Southern District of Florida and sat on the Eleventh Circuit court of appeals in this case, wrote a 2-1 opinion that denied a petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and ruled that the son of a naturalized mother is not a US citizen and can be deported. Trump judge Barbara Lagoa joined the decision , while Obama nominee Judge Adalberto Jordan strongly dissented. The January 2025 decision was in Turner v US Attorney General.
What happened in this case?
Sheldon Turner was born in 1981 in Jamaica. After his parents divorced, Turner’s mother married a US citizen. She and her son moved to the US, and Turner was admitted to the US as a lawful permanent resident when he was eight years old. Turner’s parents later remarried, and his mother became a naturalized citizen in 1999, when Turner was seventeen.
Turner was convicted of a drug offense about fifteen years later, and immigration authorities sought to remove him from the US. Turner tried to defend against this effort by contending that he had derived US citizenship from his mother, pursuant to a federal statute that applied to such claims of derived citizenship until 2000. Turner’s contention was rejected, including by the BIA, which meant that he would be deported. He petitioned for review to the Eleventh Circuit.
How did Judges Cannon and Lagoa rule and why is it harmful?
Judge Cannon wrote a 2-1 decision, joined by Judge Lagoa, that rejected Turner’s petition. The Eleventh Circuit majority thus ruled that Turner is not a US citizen and his deportation should proceed.
Judge Adalberto Jordan strongly dissented. He explained that under past BIA precedent concerning the pre-2000 immigration statute, Turner did derive citizenship from his mother’s naturalization. The majority’s view that the mother’s naturalization must have occurred “at a point in time when the parents are legally separated,” he went on, contradicts BIA precedent that is “thorough and persuasive and therefore entitled to weight” under Supreme Court precedent.
Judge Cannon’s opinion obviously harms Sheldon Turner, who is now not a US citizen and will be deported. It also undermines the importance of other BIA precedent that may help immmigrants on immigration issues, particularly in the Eleventh Circuit, which includes Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The decision illustrates the importance of our federal courts to health, welfare and justice and the significance of having fair-minded judges on the federal bench.