Martin Jimenez v. Bruce Barber, District Director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service for the Thirteenth Immigration District

On May 29, 1951, Martin Jimenez, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested by officers of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice upon a warrant issued on January 2, 1940. In the warrant, it was charged that Jimenez was in the United States in violation of the Immigration Act of 1924, in that at the time of entry in 1928 he was not in possession of an unexpired immigration visa. Thereafter, hearings were held on the warrant charge.

During the course of these hearings, Jimenez applied for suspension of de portation under the provisions of 8 U.S. C.A. § 155 (now 8 U.S.C.A. § 1254 ). A hearing was had on this application, during which Jimenez refused to answer questions about his membership in or affiliation with certain organizations, including but not limited to the Communist Political Association and the Communist Party. These questions pertained not only to the five-year period immediately prior to the application, but to years prior thereto.

On August 14, 1952, the hearing officer recommended that Jimenez be deported, and that his application for suspension of deportation be denied. From this recommended decision, plaintiff appealed to the Board of…