Supreme Court Won't Hear Former Nazi Guard's Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal of a Pennsylvania man whose citizenship was revoked for his service in the Nazi Party during World War II.

The Refugee Relief Act of 1953 bars anyone who "personally advocated or assisted in the persecution of... [a] group of persons because of race, religion, or national origin" from holding U.S. citizenship.

Anton Geiser, now 84, was born in Yugoslavia to ethnic German Parents. Geiser was drafted into the German army during World War II where he served as a guard at the Sachsenhausen, Arolsen, and Buchenwald concentration camps.

Although Geiser said he never harmed or mistreated any prisoners during his service, a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals disagrees. Judge D. Michael Fisher wrote for the panel that, "Geiser stood watch at the perimeter of the concentration camps with instructions to fire his rifle if a prisoner tried to escape. Thus, his personal actions assisted in keeping the prisoners confined in the camps where they were persecuted. In addition, he marched prisoners to and from their work sites, and these personal actions assisted in coercing the prisoners into performing forced labor."

Geiser could still be granted a hearing with an immigration court judge before a decision is made regarding his deportation.

Geiser emigrated to the U.S. in 1956 and became a citizen in Mercer County, Pennsylvania in 1962.

The U.S. government first approached Geiser in the late 1990s, and filed a complaint against him in 2004 stating he obtained his visa and citizenship illegally.

In 2006 a U.S. District Court judge in Pittsburgh ordered for Geiser's citizenship to be stripped and for his naturalization certificate to be canceled.

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