Maria Garcia-Gonzales v. Immigration and Naturalization Service

Petitioner was born in Mexico in 1914. When she was not quite ten years old, she entered the United States as an immigrant and she has resided in this country ever since, her period of residence now being over forty years. She has never been naturalized, and remains a Mexican national. So far as appears, she has been a self-respecting, self-supporting member of the communities in which she has lived. However, in 1961 she pled guilty to two counts of a six-count information that had been filed against her in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Benito, charging violations of sections 11500 and 11501 of the California Health and Safety Code. The two counts to which she pled guilty charged her with the unlawful possession of heroin. Her plea of guilty was accepted and she was given three years probation, two of the terms of which were that she was to serve six months in the county jail and pay a fine of $1,000. This judgment was entered against her on November 14, 1961.

Under date of December 4, 1961 she was served with an order to show cause and notice of hearing in deportation proceedings. This notice alleged her conviction and that by reason of it she was…