No. 20-2051 ____________

GARY LALL, Appellant

v. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, U.S. CITIZENSHIP & IMMIGRATION SERVICES _______________

On Appeal from the United States District Court For the Western District of Pennsylvania (D.C. No. 3-19-cv-00048) District Judge: Honorable Kim R. Gibson _______________

No. 20-2477 _______________

GARY LALL, Petitioner

v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (1A029-802-117) Immigration Judge: Honorable Alice Hartye

Argued March 5, 2024 Before: JORDAN, PHIPPS, and FREEMAN, Circuit Judges

(Filed August 27, 2024) _______________ Robert E. Day, III [ARGUED] Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads 1735 Market Street – 21st Floor Philadelphia, PA 19103 Counsel for Appellant/Petitioner Christopher B. Buchanan [ARGUED] Nancy Canter Rodolfo D. Saenz United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044

2 Laura S. Irwin Office of United States Attorney 700 Grant Street – Suite 4000 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 Counsel for Appellee/Respondent _______________

OPINION OF THE COURT _______________ JORDAN, Circuit Judge.

In 1990, seventeen-year-old Gary Lall, who had been born overseas, applied through his adoptive parents for a Certificate of Citizenship to confirm that he was a U.S. citizen. After he turned eighteen, the government approved the application, and Lall received a certificate stating he “became a citizen.” (D.I. 1-2 at 1.) As it turned out, however, the government had erroneously issued the certificate because Lall had not satisfied all the statutory requirements to obtain citizenship. Government employees realized the error not long after the certificate was issued, yet the government waited twenty-one years to administratively cancel it. Lall, who was incarcerated when the cancellation occurred, filed a declaratory judgment action in the Western District of Pennsylvania under 8 U.S.C. § 1503, seeking a declaration of citizenship. Shortly thereafter, the government initiated removal proceedings against him, and an Immigration Judge (the “IJ”) ordered his removal. He fared no better in his declaratory judgment action, which the District Court dismissed.

3 While we can readily appreciate how bitter this result is for Lall, neither the District Court nor the Immigration Judge erred. Because Lall never obtained citizenship, he was subject to removal. And, for the reasons set forth below, our equitable powers do not permit us to grant citizenship. We will therefore affirm the District Court’s dismissal of Lall’s declaratory judgment pleading and deny his petition for review of the Immigration Judge’s order of removal. I. BACKGROUND

In 1988, at the age of fifteen, Lall came to the United States from his native Trinidad and Tobago on a non- immigrant visitor visa. He was legally adopted by Harrack and Tara Lall, who were originally citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and had become naturalized U.S. citizens in 1975 and 1979, respectively.

In November 1990, after living with his adoptive parents for two years, Lall became a lawful permanent resident of the United States at the age of seventeen years and nine months. The following month, he applied for a Certificate of Citizenship, claiming derivative citizenship through his adoptive parents. He used a form provided by an Immigration and Naturalization Services (“INS”) c