Edmundo Rodriguez-Romero v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

Following his state conviction on a charge of trafficking in marihuana, Edmundo Rodriguez-Romero (appellant) was ordered deported pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1251 (a) (11), a statute which requires the deportation of such an alien. His appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals was dismissed, and he then filed a petition in the United States District Court for the writ of habeas corpus. He asserted two grounds for relief: that he was and is a United States citizen and could not be deported and that, even if he were an alien, his deportation would violate the due process and cruel and unusual punishment clauses of the Constitution. The matter is here on Rodriguez-Romero’s appeal from the district court’s order denying the writ.

1. Appellant was born in the Republic of Mexico, but claims citizenship through his father. Section 201(g) of the Nationality Act of 1940 ( 54 Stat. 1138 -1139), the law in effect at the time of appellant’s birth in 1945, provided in pertinent part as follows:

(a) However, appellant's father, although a- native born citizen of the United States, was not actually present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for the requisite ten year period;…