The 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals on Tuesday set a precedent requiring the government to provide important files to those facing deportation proceedings. In this case, Salazar Dent was not given his A-File, a file that maintains important official records such as naturalization certificates and petitions for benefits. 

Sazar Dent, who claims he was adopted by a Kansas woman who rescued him from the extreme poverty of his native country, was not given his A-File by the government during deportation proceedings. Routinely, the A-File is not given because often aliens don’t know the process of requesting files. The court held that the A-File must be given because in many instances it is integral for proving immigration status. 

The opinion of the court, written by Judge Andrew Kleinfeld, interprets the statute in a manner that requires the government to turn over files even when they have not been requested. The government argued that Dent could receive the information by filing a Freedom of Information Act request. However, the court ruled that filing a request takes too long; it would be unconstitutional to entitle an alien to his A-File, but deny access until the file is no longer useful.