Background
Hector Cortez claimed he was born in Laredo, Texas, but the Department of State found conflicting evidence, including a Mexican birth certificate and a birth attendant suspected of submitting false records. After reporting his passport stolen in Mexico and failing to provide requested early life records, Cortez faced four denied passport applications between 2013 and 2021. He subsequently filed a petition for a writ of mandamus and declaratory judgment in federal district court, asserting claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Mandamus Act, and various constitutional amendments.
The court’s reasoning
The court dismissed the Section fifteen hundred three of Title eight claim because it was time-barred, noting that the five-year clock started with the first final administrative denial in 2013. The court rejected equitable tolling, finding no extraordinary circumstances justified delaying the filing. Regarding the Administrative Procedure Act and the Mandamus Act, the court ruled that Section fifteen hundred three of Title eight is the exclusive remedy for declaring U.S. nationality, rendering those claims jurisdictionally barred. The court also dismissed constitutional claims, holding that the plaintiff forfeited arguments under the Full Faith and Credit and Tenth Amendments and failed to allege sufficient facts for due process violations under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.
What it means going forward
The ruling reinforces that challenges to passport denials based on citizenship status must be brought within five years of the first final denial and that plaintiffs cannot bypass this statutory limit by filing under the Administrative Procedure Act or the Mandamus Act.